Something Wicked This Way Comes
by Twitch Master of Puppets
Summary: An old friend comes back on the anniversary of her death with a message... And tides of change that will forever warp the lives of the Eva pilots and all close friends. A planetary revolution is on the brink. Heaven and Hell, which will Shinji chose? S
1. Day of a Fallen Friend

_Well, this one's been up for awhile and I've decided to start revising it once again. Just to clear things up this is based a year after episode 25. It has a lot to do episode 23, when Rei initiates the self-destruct system on her Eva in order to kill the angel. Now I haven't seen the entire series for a year… But I've started watching it again, and I'm up to episode fifteen now. I just saw episode 23, so I know what's going on there sort of. Sorry if I sound like an obsolete n00b or something, but people keep asking me about the dilemma with the storyline and all that hype about the Rei clones…And I'm wondering, "Wait, in the episode they say she comes back alive! And all of the Rei clones are destroyed. People… Keep referencing to her dying, so does that mean she was just cloned directly after she was killed and that it's not really her? But then again could they clone her that quickly? It's confusing as hell, so somebody with a fresher memory please tell me what the hell these people are talking about. And oh yeah, despite whatever happened on the TV show, let's just say that she died and that the clones were destroyed okay? Just a little bit of a story alteration. I'll be trying to improve some later chapters to. Enjoy! _

_Disclaimer: No, I don't own Evangelion… Because, if I did it wouldn't be suitable for anybody under the age of seventeen legally, even thought I'm sixteen myself so I don't see how that works Rei wouldn't be dead either, because she is the smex._

You know the drill: 'Thought'

"Speech"

Eyelids shot open revealing dark pools in which the enigma of a troubled soul constantly flounders. Upon the same roll out mattress that he has been sleeping on for the past two years, Shinji Ikari awakens from another slumber. Whether or not it was a troubled sleep he did not know, but the concerned look in his deep brown eyes and the vapid face that he instinctively, almost without a thought put on in the morning could have stated otherwise.

'And so starts another day… Even if this one is too be a somber one…' Shinji inhaled, and blew strait from his lungs a long breath that birthed into a sigh. It was indeed too be a somber day, for today was the one year anniversary since Rei Ayanami died after taking her own life while initiating the self destruct sequence of her Eva in order too take out the 16th angel Armiseal. After Asuka's highlight of a mental downward spiral that gave her the inability to help Rei before she died, a few months of therapy brought her back into the seat of the Eva unit 002 with fairly acceptable synch rates. Though she had for the most part returned to normal, Shinji knew that Asuka too wouldn't be quite as chipur today. School wouldn't be quite so easy.

Shinji had thought many times about what would happen if they simply made another clone, but Shinji knew that it wouldn't be Rei. How he'd coped with the massive tank of soulless and mindless depictions of one of the closest people in his life he had no idea. It seemed that piloting an Eva naturally put you in the hot seat for obscene realities and hardships nobody should ever have to endure. NERV was a sinister place, yet to them it was the embodiment of all that was right. Life was confusing for everybody and anybody associated with the organization.

"Shinji! It's time to wake up! Is your alarm clock even set?" He heard Misato shout from the kitchen. As if on que the digital clock next to his bed went off with a click. It squeaked a loud and deafening chirp followed by many more, sending spasmodic pains through his head.

"God damn! How can such a small and simple thing be so loud as too almost raise the dead?" He said aloud groggily after he sent it sailing into the wall. This statement was for the most part true, for Shinji found that sometimes when he woke up early in the morning, he would be so tired and disoriented that on a few occasions he would actually forget how to tell time correctly. In response he would turn his alarm off without even knowing that it would cause him to be late for school incase Misato forgot about him.

"Shinjiiiiiii!" She shouted in that long exaggerated tone that seemed to annoy him more than anything in the morning as an attempt to coax him out of bed.

"I'm comin Misato! No need to get your panties in a twist!"

The wood and paper door that separated his room from the livingroom and kitchen flew open. His eyes were half lidded. In a typical fashion he shuffled in half stooped over, characteristically scratching his ass and yawning.

"I see you actually took my advice last night" Shinji said to Misato who was currently cooking breakfast. Everything only looked _slightly _burnt.

"Yeah, well… I kinda got tired of eating curry and instant noodles on a daily basis. It's gotten so boring around this place that trying to cook actually sounds like some fun!" She said with a wink while removing a piece of blue hair from her eyes and placing it behind her ear. Asuka had to stay after school yesterday to re-take a history test, and nothing worth watching was on TV. Misato had commented on being hungry, saying that she was going to cook the two of them something. Shinji knew her cooking all to well, and in a pre-emptive attack to avoid the punishment of instant curry, for the first time in two years he thought that he might give her some pointers on cooking. With nothing else to do, they spent a few hours in the kitchen as Shinji went over the basics with her. They continued this until Asuka burst through the door, demanding food. Misato made dinner that night. It was burnt, but edible. Shinji managed to keep Asuka from commenting negatively as Misato gloated about the meal by throwing her a series of dirty looks. At least breakfast this morning looked standable

"Asukaaaaaaa!" Misato shouted. "Time to get up— OH!" She shouted as the eggs caught fire. She batted the flames out quickly. "Sheesh, do you two ever take responsibility? Do you even have an alarm clock?"

"No, of course I don't have an alarm clock Misato… It only disrupts the natural balance of everything within a five mile radius everytime it goes off." Shinji said in a sarcastic voice with a chuckle.

"Hey, I won't have any of your smartassery this morning mister." She countered, throwing him a dirty look. He stuck his tongue out at her. "Where did you get that thing anyway?" Misato questioned. Shinji puzzled on this for a moment.

"Hmmm… Come to think of it I have no idea." He stated with a cocked brow. "The things archaic, and loud though. Hell, it could probably take down an angel given the chance".

"Well hopefully we won't be seeing many of them around anymore, not since you popped the cork on that last one." Misato said, referring to the graphic way in which Shinji used the Eva to crush Kaworu, otherwise known as Tabris the 17th angel in the last encounter. Misato didn't know anything of the short friendship that had occurred between him and Shinji when Tabris entered NERV under the disguise of a human, so when she referred to the motion in which Tabris' head was severed from his body she didn't notice Shinji twitch a little. It was true that he felt horrible after killing what he thought was his friend, but the truth was that Kaworu was an angle. When Shinji came out of his little dream lapse a day or two later (Episode 25) a new person, he'd learnt to get over it after awhile. The odd thing though, was the fact that he still found something darkly funny about her comment.

"Hey! HELOOOO! Earth to Shinji?" Misato prodded at him. Shinji broke out of his trance. "What's wrong with ya kid?" She said, thinking that something had to be up.

"Oh… It's nothing…" He said in response. This was his normal behavior, but it was also a habit he was trying to break.

"Oh come now. You know what that response means to me."

"What?" Shinji asked, already knowing her answer.

"Look at me! Something's wrong! Talk to me!" That's what it means. Shinji sighed. "You're thinkin about Rei huh?"

"…Yeah…" He said, eyes cast upon the floor.

"Aw, come here Shinji." She said with a smile. Misato moved around to where Shinji was sitting and embraced him in a hug. He simply leaned into it, placing his arms around her and returning the hug. He held her tight. Misato always knew what was right and wrong with Shinji, and what to say and when to say it. It was comforting, and part of him didn't want to let go. Not only did he feel comforted, but warm. It was cold in the apartments in the morning. She was warm, and that's all he really cared about at the moment.

"What in the hell?" Came Asuka's voice, cracking through the silence like a car alarm outside the building at Two in the morning. Looking the situation up and down, she noticed a beer in Misato's hand, the both of them in a tight embrace, and Shinji with a good case of morning wood. The situation couldn't have look any more awkward.

"And this is what I wake up to? Screw this, I'm going back to bed! I can already tell it's going to be a bad day!" Asuka slammed her paper door and retreated back to her bed. Shinji and Misato could hear the dead weight of her body hitting the mattress.

"Well, I've got to try to drag Asuka's dead ass out of bed. You on the other hand need to eat something before you get ready and leave for school so you won't be so zombified later in class ok? Take care today, try not to think about her to much." She hugged Shinji once more before setting off for Asuka's room. Halfway there she turned on her heel and ventured back to him.

"Oh, and one more thing. If ya need anything to calm your nerves, feel free to help yourself." She said with a wink, forcing the beer that she had into Shinji's hands. "Teens will be teens, and I won't deny that. Do anything stupid though, and I'll kick your ass." She added with a bit of seriousness and a little sarcasm, storming off to Asuka's room once again.

"Asuka! You get out of that bed right now!" Shinji shrugged. With all of the stress that he'd been through the past year or two he'd indulged at least a few times in a healthy dose of whisky hidden under the floorboards under his mattress. He showered, brushed his teeth, ate breakfast, and was out the door in thirty minutes. The walk to the school took a total of about forty-five minutes, but it was a travel he had gotten used to. Coming to the end of the crosswalk, he waited for cars to stop coming and the "OK" sign to light up on the other side of the street..

'Wow… It's actually kind of crowded today…' Shinji knew that more and more people were starting to file back into Tokyo-3 seeing as the angel attacks had nullified, but never really took the time to notice how much livelier it was now. People stood at bus stops, some with their nose in a newspaper, others chatting between one another merrily. They crowded around Espresso stands, walked their dogs, and obsessed over their daily routines. They wandered about as if angels or Eva's had never walked these very streets.

'They seem so pre-occupied with… Such unimportant things. They seem to just turn the other cheek, as if they have time to waste…' Shinji surveyed the people of Tokyo-3, a somewhat downtrodden look rippling across his face, accompanied by a frown. 'They act… As if their time will never end… When in fact it could end just as quickly as a falling stone could snap their neck… I wish I could partake in that kind of bliss…' The crosswalk sign started to flash, and he was pulled from his thoughts once again. He spent the rest of his walk thinking about people, about time, about Rei…

His mood lightened some when he got to school, meeting up with Touji and Kensuke in the courtyard.

"Heya Shinji!" Kensuke called out, waiving at him to catch his attention. Shinji strolled over to the two casually.

"Mornin" Touji said, high fiving him, followed with the generic punching of one another's fists. "Jeez, todays gonna blow." Touji said with a stretch. It was a Thursday, meaning that school would be getting out around seven rather than it's usual time. "Oh well, I've gotta catch up on some sleep anyways." He assured jokingly.

"You know Touji, you'd maybe have a chance of graduating from hear eventually if you'd take your classes more seriously, because I know that there's no way I'm comin back for you." Kensuke replied sarcastically.

"Yeah yeah" Touji said. "Just save the smart remarks for class when we can get some entertainment out of them…" He trailed off. "Hey wait! Are you calling me dumb?" Touji grabbed Kensuke by the collar of his shirt in a comical fashion. Kensuke had yet another smart ass remark to blurt out.

"I'd say yes, but it'd probably take you another five or six seconds to realize that I was in fact calling you dumb, not to mention that you'd probably forget by then so it'd really only be a waste of my breath!" Kensuke smirked a smug little smile that seemed to light a fire in Touji's eyes.

"Why you little! I'll—"

"Knock it off guys!" They both stopped in mid sentence, turning their gaze towards Shinji. "Just, not today ok?" A somber look contorted his face into that of discontent.

"Hey, what's eatin at ya?"

"Yeah, what's wrong Shinji?" His gaze was fixed upon a copy of Rei's last school picture taped to the back of a bench a few feet away. They both followed his line of vision and slumped.

"Shit, I'm sorry man… I forgot, today's the one year anniversary isn't it?" Shinji simply continued to stare at the photo.

'She was so young, so fertile for great things… So gentle, so beautiful, so selfless… Why did it have to be her? Why not me?' His dark brown eyes fixated themselves upon her deep crimson eyes, her elegant white skin, and fragile looking figure. Her picture seemed to glow against the green chipping paint of the bench, bathed in an evanescing radiance.

"…Shinji…"

"Shinji…"

"SHINJI!"

"Huh, what?" He shook his head a few times, trying to shake the thoughts out of his mind. It was Asuka that had been shouting his name and brought him out of the trance.

"It's time for class, we've gotta go…" That usual splinter of hostility and pride was missing from her voice, she had obviously seen what Shinji was staring at, because her voice was much softer than usual. "Come on, let's go..." Asuka cooed. She put an arm around his shoulder, using the other to hold her books. She nudged him, signaling that she wanted him to start walking and they headed inside. This was the side of Asuka that hardly anybody ever saw, but today was an exception for she too was affected by the reminder of Rei's death, and all of her pictures taped and tacked up on walls and bulletin boards around the school.

'At least the class representatives made a decent attempt in honoring her…' Shinji thought, noticing the caption that read

"An Eva pilot is what she was, and in thanks for her sacrifice, we can remember _who _she was. Rei Ayanami. A student, person, guardian and friend"

placed below her picture on each piece of paper. 'I wish she would let her guard down like this more often…' Shinji thought, referring to Asuka. 'She's so much more pleasant this way… But, I guess she has her reasons just like I do. The most I can do… Is thank her I guess, for it won't happen often.' They continued on in silence, traversing the hallway.

'To thank her… But how?' Shinji thought. 'How does one simply come out and thank somebody for being nice? Sure a verbal one would seem practical… But just coming out of nowhere like that?' His mind was lost in this for a minute or two. It was indeed true that Asuka's hostile demeanor had slightly caved. She still held an air of perturbed annoyance on a daily basis, but her words were not as demeaning and cruel as they used to be.

'How do you thank Asuka? For something like this? A hug or something? Maybe…" A curious glint sparked behind Shinji's eyes, and he was hit with an idea. He strategically placed his foot in front of hers as they walked in cadence.

"Hey, what the?" She stumbled forward a little, but used the arm around his shoulder to stabilize herself. In the process of doing so, she ended up facing him, the opposite direction of which they were going.

"What gives? You little—" She stuttered to a halt as Shinji pulled her into his embrace, wrapping his arms around her waist in a tight and affectionate hug. Shocked at first, she looked for a retort but instead returned his hug, the two stood there for a couple of seconds silently locked in one another's arms. Then he pulled back, placing both hands on her shoulders and looking into her eyes. His soft brown eyes and content smile seemed to soften her as well. Then, out of the thin blue he reached up to the back of her head, and tilting his own closed his eyes and placed a light kiss on her forehead. "Hmm." He voiced, bringing his gaze back down to meet with hers one more time. "Take care okay?" He turned on his heel, heading through his classroom doorway that he unintentionally, but conveniently stopped the two of them at. Things would have felt plenty more awkward if the two had to continue down the hallway with each other after that, so Shinji was thankful for his timing. The late bell sounded just as he began to walk away. Wide eyed, she stood there motionless in the middle of the hall. Her expression softened and a blush raced across her face. She shot her gaze into the ground.

"Hey…" Asuka said, signaling Shinji.

"Yes?…" Shinji replied, throwing a look over his shoulder.

"You made me late for class… You jerk…" She stated, trying to stifle a warm smile.

"Your welcome." He said with a chuckle and a blush at the same time, stepping into class and shutting the door behind him. For the first time since the two had met, the roles between Asuka and Shinji had switched. Now, she was the one that felt like a child.

'What's going on with you Asuka? He's usually a wimp!' She shouted within the confines of her head, trying to deny the wave of adolescent emotion that washed over her, but it was a hard thing to deny. Shinji, who usually seemed to be a fairly fragile boy, made her feel like a little girl in his arms. Somehow, pressed up against him with his arms wrapped so tightly around her waist, she felt… safe. Though in her mind such a feeling signaled defeat, it was as if his action was mirrored by what a parent or close relative would do when somebody was feeling down.

"Disgusting…" Asuka choked out, lying to herself out loud. 'Wait…'

"Oh shit! I am late!" Asuka screamed to nobody in particular, breaking out into a sprint to get to class as soon as possible.


	2. Turn the Other Cheek Mr Ikari

Sometime in this chapter, we'll get to see Shinji break out of his shell a little. In what fashion, you'll have to find out yourself. SO READ! And oh yeah, it might kind of even gross you out so be warned.

_Disclaimer 'n' stuff: I don't own Evangelion, because I'm a loser, and I fail at life _

'Whew… That was awkward…' Shinji thought. The event that had just unfolded in the hallway, struck him almost instantaneously when he reached his desk. He simply stood there for a moment, lost in thought and bewilderment.

'That wasn't me… When have I ever done anything like that?' Three or four times it was that he rewound the touching little moment in his head.

'It's as if… It really wasn't me… As if I had some kind of invisible hand on my shoulder, that pushed me through all the motions…' He was even surprised that Asuka hadn't slapped him nor punched him for the gesture. It must have had to do with the anniversary. 'It has too… I'm so uptight around her, usually a hug would be a death sentence! By why didn't she react like she, _Asuka _would.' The din of thoughts in his head came close to the din of the classroom. Without the teacher present yet, voices yammered and paper airplanes dominated the airspace overhead, the usual scene that an instructor would find upon entering his or her classroom.

'I wonder what she'll have to say about this later… But it wasn't that big of a crime, so she probably won't get _that_ bent out of shape over it…' Shinji's attention shifted when the instructor entered the classroom from the back door. He ventured to the front of the room, taking his place behind the podium. As if on instinct all of the students started to quiet down once they saw the teacher enter. This was a new class that Shinji was put into, as was everybody else in the room when they added an extra subject to all students schedules. The subject was Philosophy, and the teacher had only shown up two days before hand so nobody in the class really knew who he was. He had white hair that parted in the middle, falling on either side of his face in choppy strands. He looked to be in his early thirties. The new instructor wore casual wear. A pair of black slacks, sneakers and a blue windbreaker. He wasn't very tall, maybe only three or four inches taller than Shinji, and kind of thin.

"Hello class. My name is Mister Nightingale. How are you doing today?" A few incoherent mumbles echoed throughout the classroom. Touji, who had walked in a few minutes late raised his hand and said

"Why do you ask?"

The teacher's brow furrowed, and he folded his arms in front of his body. "I don't know, why don't you tell me?" A smirk wormed itself along the bottom of his jaw.

"Uh…." Touji stuttered. "Because you have nothing else to say? To break the ice maybe?" He was puzzled as to why the instructor asked him this question.

"Re-think this ah… What is your name?"

"Touji Suzuhara"

"Yes Touji… It's not Why am I asking all of _you _ the question, but _Why _am I asking _the_ question? Where is the deeper motive, other than to break the ice?"

"Uuuh, because you're curious?" A sweatdrop formed at Touji's temple.

"Close, VERY CLOSE!" the instructor over enthusiastically half-shouted. "It is because I want to know. I want to _know_ what _you _have to think. I could just come in and teach, completely ignoring the general attitude of the classroom and carrying on with my own idea of how _I_ feel, but that feeling would grow old by the end of the day… So, I'm asking you, how you feel, because I want difference, I want change, I don't want to be stuck with the same boring old perspective for the entire day! I want to be entertained by new ideas, so that I can stay in an entertaining mood. That is why, Mr. Suzuhara."

"Yes sensei…" Touji said, obviously confused but not showing it.

"Please, don't call me by the name of Sensei, nor instructor. Just call me Mr. Nightingale, or just plain old "Teacher" if you must. I am not here to instruct, for instruction has no feeling, no compassion! I am here to teach, to impress upon you all that I know about modern day philosophy, and life! Now that, that takes feeling in order to be effective! You might as well call it, my purpose in life as long as I occupy the same classroom as you, and you have something that you want to learn. Now, I will be frank. If you don't want to learn, or at least pretend to want to learn so that you can get a grade, but rather sit in this class, and do nothing because you're popular, because you're cool, or because you're a so called rebel, I do not want you in here. Indeed, you have my permission to leave and roam the halls as you want! Just as long as you do not disrupt the educational balance of all those who _do_ want to learn. Now, is there anybody that feels that they want to leave right now?" He scanned over every student in the classroom. Everybody was silent, obviously thinking that their new teacher was just a _little _eccentric.

"Well, if nobody want to leave, I guess we'll move right along then!" Mr. Nightingale announced. "Let's get to know each other. When I call on you, I want an answer that you believe is true, not what I want to hear. Think about it for a second, and tell me what's on you mind. How about you miss, er…" He glanced down at the attendance sheet. "Miss Dekai?"

"Yes Mr. Nightingale?" A high pitched voice at the very front of the classroom squeaked. She had short choppy pink hair, and a faint lisp in her speech. She was definitely "teachers pet" material.

"Miss Dekai, could you please tell me what the meaning of life is?"

"Ummm…" She thought for a second. "To be kind to others?"

"A nice try Miss Dekai, how about you back there in the corner?"

"Um, have fun?" a male student from the back of the room guessed aloud. Mr. Nightingale went through five or more students, all giving out generic answers somehow thinking that there was one concrete answer, before the spotlight landed on Shinji, who had gone unnoticed by even Touji who sat next to him.

"Uh, who me?"

"If you're Shinji Ikari, then yes you." He said with a grin. "Say, aren't you one of the three Eva pilots?" It was unbeknownst to Mr. Nightingale that Touji had also been an Eva pilot for a short time before he was taken out of commission, but it was really just another skeleton in Touji's closet, one that he never spoke to anybody about. Through further research he could have figured it out, but was much more interested in Shinji though as of now Shinji was not very interested in himself as a direct result of the public revelation.

"I, uh… Yes…" Shinji looked down at his desk in discomfort. About twenty sets of eyes were locked on Shinji, most of who didn't realize who he was until now. Nightingale realized that Shinji obviously didn't care to talk about the topic too much, and resumed with his question.

"So, will you answer the question?" He asked Shinji.

"Do you really want my honest opinion?" Shinji asked, unsure.

"But of course."

"Well… I think that the meaning of life is not to answer the said question… But find the right question to ask. We humans are a crime against logic, and finding the answer would be near impossible."

"A crime against logic Mr. Ikari? Why do you say so?"

"Well… The human heart and mind are so finely tuned that there are a near infinite amount of feelings and secrets that one can hide away." A frown spread across Shinji's face. These were the things that he always agonized over after thinking to much.

"When the idea of an AT field comes into play, it _has_ to have it's limits… Otherwise we wouldn't have any means of physical form and therefor, would not be individuals. However… The human mind holds infinite possibilities, a vessel for carrying infinite scenarios which is in turn locked inside of a space, that being the AT field which is not infinite. In truth, all humans are a walking contradiction because of this. I am a walking contradiction to myself, and everything around me…" After that, Shinji went silent. In fact, the entire room was silent, calm enough to here the scratching of a dustmite. Mr. Nightingale was obviously surprised.

"Very interesting Mr. Ikari. You see class, now that is an answer! Full of heart, and opinion! As depressing as it might have sounded, an opinion. Now, think about that as you work. Take out your text books and read pages Five through Fifteen, and answer the questions at the back." Shinji did not really hear this though. His thoughts had wandered off again, thankful that the attention was off of him. His thoughts were yet again, on Rei. On a few memorable times with her that she actually did open up to him. On positive and negative times in both their lives, and how he would no longer greet her on a day to day basis as he usually did when she was still alive.

'It's been a year… Why are these things hitting me now?' Hopelessly lost within his own daydreams again, Shinji sighed and laid his head down on his desk. 'Why did she have to go? Why… We could… Could have saved her…' His eyelids started to grow heavy, and sleepiness tried to blanket him. 'Why… Why did he have to take her? If… That fucker takes another of my friends… I'm… Going to… Kill him…' His eyes twitched as the conversations of others floated in and out. He almost fell asleep, until he heard something that _upset_ him a little.

"Yeah, that Rei chick? I hear that today was the one year anniversary of her death… But hell, good riddance. She was a weirdo anyways, we don't need abnormal people around here, kind of like that Shinji kid… Those Eva pilots are all nutcases I tell ya… Plus she wasn't even that great looking. Sure, the blue hair was a compliment, but she never wore any make-up, and those weird red eyes of hers…" Shinji's eyes were open now and getting bloodshot. His head still rested on the desk, but his hands gripped the edges of it firmly. He grew angrier and angrier as this side of the conversation went on. The guy who was saying it was no more than a desk row away. Shinji was squeezing the desk so hard at the edges that he could hear it buckle, and cracks started to snake through the wood table.

'Motherfucker! Who the hell does he think he is talking about her like that?' His thoughts screamed at him. 'Just calm down Shinji… They are only words, words that could hurt you as many have before if you take them too seriously…' Shinji tried to close his eyes again and relax, but negative accusations about both Rei and him had continued to home in on his ears. He could feel himself shaking again. 'What's going on with me? What is this?' Shinji's adrenaline levels continued to rise, and his breathing got shallower. 'How can he speak of her like that?' Shinji cared not for himself in this carelessly presented slander, but for Rei.

When one speaks ill of the recently dead in the presence of a friend or relative, that friend or relative will tend to become deeply angered. Sometimes the rippling effects of death will not hit until a few months to a few years after that loved one has died, and then the true grieving will begin. (Personal experience here… Rest In Peace Seldon!) It was at this moment that Shinji Ikari chose to start truly grieving, and… To re-arrange somebody's facial structure as well.

"Excuse me… Could you please end this conversation?" Shinji probed after lifting his head from the desk. He didn't quite look into the male students eyes, rather than look through and past them. "I knew Rei… And I don't know what you think of her, nor do I really want to know… But please. This has been a hard day for me." The energetic feeling in his chest compelled him to be a bit more brash, but he kept as calm as possible.

"Sorry kid… Does the truth hurt? Mind your own business punk." Shinji recognized the student speaking ill of Rei now. His name was Tsetsara.

"Listen damnit. I've had a real trying day this far, and I really don't need this shit, now I'll ask one more time politely… Please, knock it off…" Shinji turned on his heel and started to head for his desk, when Tsetsara's mouth excreted another heartless comment.

"Don't get your panties in a twist little boy, it's not my fault your booty call bit the dust." Shinji turned around as if the same invisible hand from before had spun him in a complete 180'.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS YOUR PROBLEM?" The entire room went silent, and all eyes were set on Shinji who was now standing in front of Tsetsara's desk. He slammed his fist down on the desk, startling the student in it. He was probably about Shinji's height, though it was hard to tell while he was sitting. He looked to be fairly physically fit, built a bit heavier than Shinji..

"Who the hell are you talking to kid? Me?" He questioned sarcastically.

"Yeah you, you disrespectful piece of shit! Where the hell do you fucking get off talking about the dead like that? Let alone one that was MY FRIEND!" An uncharacteristic rage fell into an endless pit of fire in his eyes.

"Do you think I care? All of you pilots are nutcases, and should be put down just like dogs!"

"…" Shinji was shaking, both of his eyes were twitching furiously. His face was turning red. 'What's going on? What the hell? Is this really happening?' His thoughts raced. He was afraid of what would happen next, but he didn't know exactly what it was he was afraid of. He hadn't ever felt this enraged since he had been in an Eva, and usually when he felt this kind of anger he soon after blacked out and lost control of Unit-01.

"Hey, have ya got somethin to say ta my friend?" Touji tried to separate him from Shinji.

"Move Touji." Shinji hissed.

"No Shinji, I ain't gonna let you—"

"MOVE!"

"Ok… Ok." Touji said, almost feeling endangered as he backed away. Nobody dared try to hold him back. Normally nobody would feel this threatened by Shinji Ikari, for most knew that he was a fairly delicate and unbalanced boy. His excess anger seemed to evanesce from his shaky frame and hang heavy over all of the other students heads, and this is what held them back. The one that everyone thought of as a wuss, a coward, a pussy, and a nutcase was obviously about to snap under all of the pressure.

"What're you gonna do, hit me? Just try it. I don't care if you're an Eva pilot, I can still kick your ass!." He said, standing up and inviting Shinji to hit him.

"…"

"Come on! Try it tough guy!"

"…"

"Well, I'm waiting!" He went to push Shinji, but as soon as his hand touched Shinji's shoulder he was as good as done for. The only reason things had gotten this far was that the Teacher was currently in the bathroom, and wasn't there to break it up. Tsetsara's fingertips came in contact with Shinji for only a second.

Shinji chose to snap.

Shinji grabbed the delinquents right arm with his own left, twisting it over at the elbow. He looked muscular, but squealed like a pig after his shoulder was wrenched out of it's socket. Holding him in this position, Shinji landed a punch square in his jaw. The students around them erupted into a mixture of gasps and cheers.

'Ow!' Shinji thought. He had split his knuckle open on Tsetsara's tooth, but he decided to keep punching him in the mouth anyway. The skin would grow back on his knuckle, his peers teeth wouldn't. 'Looks like fighting all those angels did have it's payoffs' He thought momentarily.

"Mother-fucking-disrespectful-little-bastard!" He shouted between blows. The crunching sound of Tsetsara's nose against his fist was heavenly music. By this time nearly all of his front teeth were broken off or knocked out, his nose was a jelly sack of shattered cartilage, and blood ran freely down the front of his shirt. The guy was bawling his eyes out, but Shinji caught up in a fit of fury didn't stop there. Fire coursed through his veins. He didn't think, and he hardly spoke throughout the whole ordeal with the exception of a few curse words and insults. Spit flew from Shinji's lips everytime he shouted, and his face was covered in little flecks and droplets of blood that were not his own. His arms were stained with blood all the way up to the elbow. The scene grew uncomfortable very quickly. It went from a fight, to a one-sided beatdown, to a massacre, to a slaughter within a matter of thirty seconds. All standing in the circle of students around the two were completely silent. Shinji had the other student on the floor, while he straddled him on top and just continued to beat him. As of now Shinji looked not even human, but a frenzied animal. All that could be heard was the

"Sckrich!" of facial bones being broken, and the dull wet thud of Shinji's fist against his face. Every time that Shinji brought his hand down a pathetic whine or squeak popped out of Tsetsara's mouth. It sounded as if a meat cleaver was being taken to a raw side of beef as Shinji reduced his foes face to raw hamburger.

"What in the hell?" An alien voice greeted the room. Mr. Nightingale, obviously back from his bathroom break broke through the circle of students and threw Shinji off.

"Shit! What the hell went on here? Hurry, call an ambulance! Elevate his head so that he doesn't drown in his own blood!" The teacher shouted as a few students went into action. Once again, the spotlight was off of Shinji. Overwhelmed, he stood up after catching his breath and sprinted out of the classroom, bolting down the hallway and out of the school.

"Hey, what's going on down here?" Asuka shouted down the hallway. Her teacher heard the commotion all the way down the hall in their classroom, and sent Asuka down to investigate and see where all the sound was coming from. "Hey! Hello?" She said, nearing the classroom that the sound and chaos was coming from. 'Wait a minute…' Asuka thought. 'That's Shinji's classroom.' Just as she finished that thought, she saw Shinji himself skid out into the hallway. He looked panicked, but what was more shocking to Asuka was that he looked bloody, severely so. He didn't notice her at first, but when he did Shinji simply shook his head and took off in the other direction. 'Shit, what the hell happened?' She thought. Asuka attempted to chase after him but was stopped by Touji.

"Asuka!" He blurted out, grabbing her by the shoulder. Apparently he was in this same classroom.

"What?" She said with hostility.

"It's Shinji!"

"What about him?" She questioned. "Did he cause all of this commotion?" Touji looked serious, almost despairing.

"Yeah, he did."

"How?"

"He beat the ever-loving snot out of this kid for badmouthing Rei, that's what."

"Oh my god! Are you serious? Why didn't you try and stop him?" She shook Touji vigorously.

"Because… I… Was, afraid of him…" Touji admitted shamefully, refusing to look her in the eye.

"Why were you afraid of him! He's Shinji! You're stronger than him!" Asuka snarled.

Touji shifted his gaze and pierced her eyes with his own, his face showing a deep confusion. "Even I can acknowledge that Shinji's kind of a wimp, and he's my friend! But you weren't there Asuka! There was something different about him, he looked like a friggin animal! He was pissed the fuck off!"

"Well it couldn't have been that bad now could it? I mean Shinji's just not that violent of a person! He's a wimp! How much damage could he have done?" Asuka asked, hoping that it wasn't much. Touji stayed silent and continued to looked back down at the floor.

"Excuse me guys." Asuka saw two men in paramedic uniforms trying to pass between them. When she saw the gurney that they carried Shinji's victim out on, she turned away and vomited profusely.

'Oh my fucking god… What the fucks gotten into you kid? I've got to find him…'


	3. Ghosts of the Past

_I'd like to thank a select few for reviewing this story, I'd post the names but my review thing is being gay and I don't remember them… One or two of you said something about me making some mistakes, but being nice enough not to flame me for it because I had a reasonable excuse. PLEASE! If you have a mistake to point out, please tell me! I could really care less about my pride, as long as I can make this story better. One of you also stated that I should finish watching the series for the second time, because my brain IS a little bit fuzzy but… I DO have a broad history of shooting myself in the foot, plus I'm impatient. You might think Asuka, Misato, Rei and Shinji out of character right now, but I assure you that I've fallen back into my comfortable little writing groove after not writing for so long and the characters will start to show their original colors once again as well. The reason everybody is acting so differently is a result of both pressure/tension taken off of the pilots and Misato after locking the Eva's away for the most part. The plot of this story of course does not involve either movie, so the chars are really just starting to realize how much room they have to let change of character happen now. But hey, I'll do the best I can. Thanks for the reviews!_

'No regrets, that asshole deserved it! NO REGRETS!' Panicked, Shinji ran all the way home, surprisingly not being stopped by anybody seeing as he _was_ franticly dashing down a public sidewalk stained up to his elbows in blood. He made it too the apartment, and was up the staircase in less than five seconds. "Fuck, godamnit! FUCK!" He shouted in a fit of frustration, fumbling with the keys to open the door. It flew open and he stepped inside, locking it behind him. He ran to his room, closing the paper sliding door behind him as well. He collapsed onto his bed in a heap, crying and screaming all at once. They say that the human mind bends and warps in order to cope with stress and pressure, but eventually if warped enough, it can snap in two.

"Godamnit Rei… Why did you have to leave us like that…" He whispered, tears staining his pillow. 'Why… Why is this hitting me now?' Why didn't he react this way before? Sooner? Why now? Was it because in the heat of all that was happening at NERV he hadn't the time to grieve until now? He didn't know for sure… But in the middle of all this crying, he noticed something strange. The time on the clock was wrong, in fact the entire clock was wrong in every way. It should have been about 'Seven by now, the time that school would have gotten out, but instead his digital clock read 6:66. It lay where he had thrown it early that morning, but wasn't plugged in, so he didn't know what it was doing on in the first place. A chill ran up his spine when he realized the strange coincidence of the _number_ that was on his clock. "What the hell?" Shinji questioned aloud. Puzzled, he wandered into the kitchen. The apartment was dark, but he could still see most of the glowing clock faces, all digital. Every single one in the apartment read 6:66.

"What the hell is going on here? I—" He stopped in mid sentence, thinking that he had heard something coming from his room. He opened his door, and heard it again. The noise was very faint.

_"Shinji…" _It was a ghost of a whisper. It wasn't coming from outside, and… It sounded like, Rei. It seemed to come out of nowhere. Another chill scratched and slithered it's way up Shinji's spine. He went to turn the lights in the apartment on, but none of the light switches would work. A very faint light poured through some of the windows, just barely making things visible.

_"Shiiiiiinji…" _ The glowing 6:66 on his digital clock would flicker everytime the whisper would sound. His eyes widened, and his breaths grew quicker, shallower. He broke out in a cold sweat, his heart pounding like a sledgehammer on an anvil.

"Shit, Jesus fucking Christ I'm going insane!" He fell to his knees, balling his fists on his head and clutching his hair. "I'm going fucking insane!"

_"No Shinji… You are not…"_ The whisper contradicted him.  
"Who is that?" He half shouted. He went to go check the door and see if anybody was trying to get in, but as soon as he tried to leave his room he heard it again.

_"Don't leave Shinji…" _

"Who is that?…" His knee's grew weaker by the moment and he started to shake. 'What the hell is going on? Is this real, or am I just finally snapping?' He collapsed back onto his bed, curling up in a fetal position. His left eye quivered as the whisper continued to sound. Reaching over, Shinji grabbed for a glass of water that he saw there that morning. Without a thought he upturned the glass, and dumped the water on his head, hoping that it would cause him to wake from whatever kind of strange dream this was. It splashed against his temple, soaking the collar of his shirt and his hair. A bead of liquid dripped onto his lips, and he licked them clean.

'What? No, what is this?' A look of puzzlement flashed across his face and he placed a hand on the back of his head where it was the wettest. He brought it back around to his mouth, and licked his fingertip. In the darkness of his room he could hardly make out the orange hue of the liquid.

"LCL?" He questioned aloud.

_"Yesss…" _His heartbeat grew heavier as this strange and ghostly whisper sounded again.

"Who is that? Where are you?" He questioned the eerie voice,

_"It's me… The one who's death you celebrate today…"_

"R-R-Rei?" Shinji's eyes shrank into the back of his head, and they started to fill with tears again.

_"Yes…" _Shinji could have sworn that the room was dropping more and more in temperature by the second.

"Rei, where are you? WHERE ARE YOU?" He shouted franticly and desperately. His shouts turned into sobs, and he buried his face in the pillow.

'What the fuck is going on?' His shouts continued in his own mind. 'What is this? Is it real? Is it here? Or is it a dream? I don't know anymore… I just don't fucking know…' As of now, for Shinji Ikari all that was chaos and all that was reasonable was blended into one amorphous mass of questions and truths. He turned over, fixating his vision once again on the ceiling above.

"Well, where are you Rei?" He said between sniffles.

_"I could… Be here Shinji…" _His eyes widened and glossed over with a hint of question.

"What… What exactly do you mean?" In his state of bewilderment and confusion Shinji no longer even bothered to think whether or not he was really speaking to Rei, and assumed that he was.

_"I mean… That with your help I could be living amongst you all again…But…"_

"But what?" Shinji retorted, desperate for an answer.

_"Would you lend your soul to the devil for me? To bring me back?" _His thoughts raced for a minute or two, but he knew the answer all along.

"Yes…"

_"Would you spill the blood of another angel for me?"_

"…"

"…"

"…Yes." It was true. Shinji Ikari was willing to go through twice the hell that he had with the angels, in order to be able to touch, feel, see and smile upon Rei Ayanami again.

_"Then… Meet me in the LCL… In the womb…"_

"You mean in Unit-01?"

_"Yes…"_

"Hey! Wait!" No response.

"Rei?" Still no response.

Shinji didn't know what compelled him to do it, but he decided to pay a visit to Unit-01 at headquarters. He got on the first bus heading to that part of town, swiped his card at the entrance and stepped into the first maintenance elevator that lead down to the Eva Unit docking bay. The sector had been temporarily shut down about a month ago, so that meant no lights. Shinji already had a flashlight ready. Within five more minutes, Shinji was standing on the catwalk next to his Eva. He slipped his headgear on and the Eva, recognizing the pilots thought pattern, opened up halfway ejecting the plug. Shinji jumped down onto the unit and prepared to jump in. He noticed his bloodstained shirt and became quite disgusted. He peeled off his shirt and threw it aside before entering. Once inside, the hatch closed over him and the plug sank back into Unit-01.

He didn't fully activate the unit, but bled a hint of power into the electrical system, allowing for the internal lights to illuminate. Without the main optical screens on, the lights filled the cockpit with luminous and gentle shades of purple and blue. LCL proceeded to flood through the vents around him. It was icy cold, creeping up his shins, past his knees, and up to his chest. He focused on the ripples dancing across the top of the fluid surface, while the LCL elevated to his chin. This was the one part that he always had trouble growing comfortable with, blowing out that last breath of air and inhaling a liquid life source. The transition always gave you a drowning feeling, and Shinji could always feel the LCL level start from the bottom of his lungs and rise until it completely choked the air out of his body, leaving a small pocket of air on the roof of his mouth where it arched. Now, completely filling the plug, it's orange hue changed the combination of purple and blue to a soft minty green, something he didn't see very often because he was usually gazing through the Eva's eyes at the outside world. As if waiting, Shinji found a comfortable position and splayed himself out in the pilots seat. He laid back, utilizing his tongue in the game of toying with the pocket of air left on the roof of his mouth. This game grew quite old after five or so minutes.

'What am I doing in here?' Shinji thought. 'I know that I'm just imagining things… She's not ever coming back…' Yet somehow he didn't completely believe, or want to believe this. It might have been wishful thinking, or it might have been his currently unstable mentality. Nonetheless, after thirty minutes or so of contentment with his thoughts, Shinji drifted off into a deep slumber inside Unit-01.

He only slept for about fifteen minutes, dreaming multiple weird dreams and scenario's, the most re-occurring being the one that had something to do with Pen-Pen, a fifth of JD and him in a giant banana suite. His nap was a light one, and thus he was easily disturbed, however he felt strangely comfortable inside of the Unit-01. It was probably the reason that he fell asleep so easily. At one point, he was unconscious but not quite asleep. It was utter silence inside of the Eva.

_"Shiiiiiinji…" _A wind of a whisper caused him to shift in his sleep a little. Then, in a bone chilling manner the temperature dropped rapidly. His eyes shot open, and laying on his side the first thing he noticed was a numeral readout on one of the synch ratio displays next to his face. The numbers flashed.

**666**

Also, it seemed that the inside of the plug had gone almost pitch black, except for the red glow on the Synch readout. Shinji's blood ran cold, ice cold. Every vein and blood vessel in his body screamed in freezer burnt agony.

'…Jeezus!…' Shinji sputtered and choked in panicked coughs. His breathing sped up again, he could hear his heart pounding in his ears.

_"Shinjiiii…………" _Even though he was completely submerged in fluid, he could swear that he felt a tear run down his cheek.

'That whisper… If felt as if… It were right in my ear…' His eye twitched uncontrollably, and his entire body began to tremble. A few involuntary whines and whimpers escaped from his lips.

_"Shinjiii…" _He could feel something hot brushing against his ear, an intimate breath perhaps.

'Shit! shit! shit! fucking shit!' He was turning into a panicked mess, refusing to turn his head to face upwards, for he was afraid of what he might see because out of the corner of his eye a white luminous glow danced.

_"Shiiiiin………Ji!" _The whisper grew substantially louder when it came to the last two letters of his name.

"Huh?" In a scare he rolled over onto his back, turning his head swiftly only to meet two crimson circles, only inches away from his face. "Aaaaaaah!" Shinji pressed himself as deep into the seat as he could go. "Rei!" An onset panic attack began to take place, and his breathing grew uncontrollable in shallow, short drawn breaths.

_"Yes… Shinji… It's me…"_

"But, you can't be real! You!"

"You…"

"…You…"

_"Died?" _Shinji gulped nervously. His panic attack had a constricting grip on his chest.

_"Calm down, my dear Shinji…" _Rei's ghost as Shinji would call it, floated only a few inches above him. The sheet white foggy apparition placed it's hands on his chest. Her fingers were ice cold, and felt no more solid than a winter's breath on his bare chest, but still his lungs loosened up and he could breathe again. He closed his eyes, trying to calm his nerves. All he cold feel was the coldness, and closeness of her entity above him. The ghostly one spoke.

_"Shinji… Do you…"_

"Yes?" He replied.

_"Want me back?_

"Of course I do! It's miserable here without you!"

_"What would you give to have me back?"_

"Everything…"

_"What would you do, to bring me back?"_

"Anything…" Shinji's eyes shot open, his eyes were filled with care, softness and compassion now. "Anything that I had to…" Rei's eyelids fluttered a few times, her eyelashes like the wings of a butterfly.

_"If this is so Shinji Ikari… Then place upon my lips, your truest kiss…And fulfill a favor that I will tell you when our faces part." _Her eyes shut suddenly. Shinji hung there awkwardly for a second. He had never truly kissed a girl before, and the fact that the girl was a ghost he only half believed to be really there made things very hard. Finally, he shut his eyes too and lifted his head up off of the seat an inch or two, pressing his lips against her spectral mouth. His lips froze over momentarily with a glaze of cold LCL, but it soon melted away. His lips began to warm up, and hers did as well. They grew firmer against his, and with structure came softness. Once their faces parted, her misty fog of a body started to solidify. Her features started to grow fuller. The delicate curves of her shoulders, rear, and the arch in her back and hourglass shape morphed into elegant structure. As she took on physical form, she floated down and landed upon him as soft and gentle as a winters snowflake.

_"Thank you… So much…" _The glow disappeared from her body, and she now lay cradled up against Shinji, head on his chest. _"So… Cold…" _Rei hugged him tightly.

'What kind of cruel thing is this, that it can be so joyful?' Shinji thought. 'This can't be real… It can't be happening…'

"Rei… How am I to know it's you?" Shinji questioned softly, still deeply enveloped in denial.

"Why would you ask? I'm here, and I'm speaking with you, cradled against you." She said in a Rei kind of tone.

"Because… I saw… Your Eva explode… Nobody could have survived that…"

"And I didn't… Perhaps you would feel more assured, if I told you something only you and I would know?" She asked, tilting her head so that her eyes would meet with his.

"Well… Why don't you tell me, what I said to you after we defeated the Fifth angel… When I forced your entry plug open to see if you were alright."

" The first thing you said… Was "Don't ever say that." You told me… Never to say goodbye before a mission… That it was too depressing… I should have said it on the last mission though… I wish I could have said goodbye to you, and to everybody…" Despair welled up in her eyes, and she closed them.

"Why?" Shinji asked. "You're here now aren't you?"

For minutes upon minutes, they sat there shrouded in silence. Rei cuddled against his body for warmth and he accepted her gratefully, snaking his arms around her waist and pulling her close. Rei upturned her gaze and met his eyes once again. Her chin resting on his chest whilst she looked up at him, she was beautifully and elegantly adorable. An innocent fire danced in her eyes. Before they looked so despairing, so… void of emotion. But now, they held a new sparkle. Shinji smiled warmly and softly down upon her.

'She's so close… She's here… She is to me, what nobody else has ever been…' Without warning, an impulse shot through his head, and his mouth followed suit before the rest of his brain could.

"I love you…" Shinji panicked internally, not letting it show exteriorly. 'Shit! What did I say? What do I do now?'

"I love you too… Shinji Ikari… It's just a shame, that I couldn't have said it, until now… Because I did not know it, nor what love was, until now." She moved up closer, now cradling her face against the side of his. Rei's small, infantile breaths brushed against his ear in playful liquid fantasia, whilst her angelically soft hair brushed his cheek floating on a small current of LCL. His arms sunk tighter around her delicate figure, and he could feel her breasts press up against his bare chest, they were as soft as snow, the same color of her skin. Obviously comfortable, she placed a kiss on his cheek.

'This is crazy! Unbelievable! But… It's pleasant… It feels… Right. She seems so much more, present though… Before, she felt… So far away…'

"Hmmm…" Her eyes closed, Rei just sat there in his arms with her own wrapped around the back of his neck, resting beside him. A blush spread on his face in a riptide of red, and he felt somewhat bashful for a second, but his thoughts were broken fairly quickly. Shinji felt a small vibration. He assumed that it came from Rei at first, but the second time that he felt it, he could feel the entire unit vibrate as well. The percussion repeated itself a few times, growing by a smidgen with each repetition.

"What the hell do you think that is?" He listened as a few more vibrations rattled the Eva. "Got any ideas Rei?" She stayed silent for a few more seconds, before turning to look at him.

"It…" A sorrowful eyes accompanied a frown on her face. "It, would be that favor I asked you to take care of earlier… Because I knew that you and Unit-01 could do it..." Shinji shook his head.

"Wait, what? What the hell are you talking about? Unit-01? Why would this have anything to do with Unit-01?" Shinji's face contorted into a look of confusion. "Rei, what's going on?" Another shake rattled them. This time it was accompanied by a low rumble, as if an entire skyscraper was being dropped from the sky somewhere on the outskirts of the city. "Shinji… The seventeen angels… were just the calm before the storm…" Just then a monstrous tremor quaked the Eva, and the maintenance dock around it Shinji judged when the Eva continued to shake long after the sound of the initial percussion. He took on a look of despair.

"Shinji… You have to fight, for all peoples sake. This thing is up there right now, with the intention of destroying Tokyo three, and the Geofront along with it."

"But Rei, I…"

"Sssssshhhh… There is not enough time to debate Shinji If you don't fight right now you won't have anything to come back and fight for. This would have happened, had I have come back or not… But I knew you needed help, so they sent me to give it to you."

"Rei, who sent you?" She shook her head.

"I don't have the time to explain." Rei stated. Shinji sighed.

"Somehow… I don't think I have the time to ask how you know all of this… So I'll simply ask the questions… Does this favor require me to activate Unit-01, and engage another creature in combat?"

"…Yes…"

"Is this creature as great of a threat as any of the angels?"

"…Yes… At least three times as powerful as the strongest of the seventeen angels… I'm sorry to ask you of this, just when you thought that you were finally free… But… If you don't do this, you will have no life to go back to, for it and all life on this planet will have ended…" Rei hugged him even tighter.

"Is it big?"

"Very" She responded.

"I have just one more question…" Shinji's voice was monotonous and emotionless. "Do you really love me, or were they words to help coax me into receiving whatever responsibility for this "favor". It was deadly and utterly silent in the cockpit of the Eva for a minute or two, before Rei finally spoke.

"I do love you… This might be quick, and it might be sudden, for I even do not fully understand love nor anything of these emotions… Of feelings… But I fear that if I don't reveal to you the truth about heaven, hell, and the true meaning of instrumentality very soon, I won't have very long to say that I love you very often… But those things can wait until later… Right now Shinji, I must ask you too fight." Shinji sighed.

"Please… Don't be mad at me, Shinji Ikari…"

"I'm not mad at you… What I'm really mad at, I don't even know what looks like yet… But I guess I'll see when we breach the surface." With that said, Shinji activated Unit-01. Rei seated herself behind him, isolating her thoughts to herself so that Shinji could concentrate on bringing the Eva to life. It took a few minutes for his synch numbers to stabilize, but once they were all in order Shinji activated the main visual screens and looked once again through the eyes of his Eva.

"Damnit! The powers not on, which means the elevator isn't working right now! Hold on… I'm gonna try to call somebody and get some power down here."

"No Shinji, you don't have time. They probably already know about the problem, but it'll take too long for them to restore all of the power. You'll just have to climb the shaft."

"Fine then." Unit-01 pushed the catwalk away and turned in the sea of liquid in which it had stood dormant for almost a year. Shinji placed one bio-mechanical foot on an indentation in the wall, and then another. After the last incident where NERV was struck by a massive power outage, Misato made sure that they had made a way for the Eva's to get up any of the elevator shafts in the case that they had lost power. Eva Unit-01 required no external power source, for it had acquired an S2 engine awhile back, and thus required no hindering umbilical cords. Shinji continued up the shaft, climbing on for about five or ten minutes. The upward journey finally came to an end when they arrived directly underneath the large titanium blast doors that covered the shaft. Shinji tried his best to pry them open at first, but they were too stubborn to open. He aimed a punch at them, and Unit-01's fist rattled the blast doors but Shinji lost his footing and almost fell.

"Alright then, I guess we'll just have to try something else." Shinji drew the unit's Progressive Knife and cut away at the edges of the opening. He gave the two doors another punch, and they gave way this time. Shinji pulled himself up onto the surface, digging his fingers into the soil once he could reach over the lip of the entrance. Unit-01 fully emerged from the man-made hole in the ground. Shinji was just bringing Unit-01 to an upright position, when he noticed that the ground before them was completely enveloped in shadow and darkness, even though the day was brightly sunny and a cloud wasn't to be seen in the sky. Another earth rattling quake shook the ground and Shinji was thrown slightly off balance. Unit-01 stumbled forward a few times before catching itself. Shinji was facing the city, the rumble was still fading. Quickly he turned in the direction from which the sound came.

"Rei, I think three times as powerful as any of the angels… Was a bit of an understatement!" Shinji exclaimed after casting his vision about Two-thousand feet upward into the sky. Rei's "favor" was a somewhat human shaped rock behemoth of a creature that towered at least twenty times higher than any skyscraper in Tokyo-3. It's eyes were not even visible to the naked eye for it's head was so far up above the ground. Everytime it took a step, totaling a length of three fourths of a mile the ground rattled as if an atomic bomb had gone off in the earth's core.

"You have got to be shitting me."


	4. Fell the messenger, realize your truth!

_WOOT! New chapter guys. It's a bit long, which in my book is a good thing. I hope you guys'll like it. Some of you might be unhappy with me re-naming one of the Eva's and/or with it's name, but believe me, there's a point to it. You'll see later on. Enjoy _

"Rei, I can't do this." Shinji's eyes swept up and down the silhouette of the stone-like monstrosity against the setting sun.

"Shinji you have to. If you don't bring it down, it will have reached the city by nightfall… Though it is extremely slow… You only have until nightfall to defeat—"

"No! You don't understand!" Shinji cut her off abruptly. "I can't do this! Look at how big that thing is! Look at what it's made out of! Even from here, I can see that it's got disaster written all over it if we engage it!" Shamefully, Shinji buried his forehead in his hands. He was obviously stressed out.

"But you have to…"

"That's the problem Rei… Even if I DO have to, I'm not strong enough. You know this Rei… Everybody does." Shinji exhaled in a sigh. "I'll always be the weak one… To everybody… I'll never be good enough."

"Shinji I don't know this, because it is not reality. You are capable of doing this in every way. If this creature reaches the city, all hope will be lost entirely! Many more beings will descend upon this earth soon, because this rock behemoth is their messenger! Something wicked this way comes, and this is only the first of many hardships with which you will have to deal!" Rei exclaimed all of this worriedly, a hint and a plea of desperation in her voice. "Shinji, you—"

"I can't fucking do it! Don't you realize that Rei? Of all people to receive this responsibility, why in the hell did it have to be me? What the fuck did I ever do that was so great to gain me so much attention? And could you tell me exactly who it is that you're getting all of this from?"

"Shinji… I haven't the time…" She didn't have the time. Shinji of all people should have known what it was like to feel like time to spare was almost a self served salvation. Over the course of a year, he had been trying to constantly tell himself that he hadn't enough time. He thought he had to live in the present the best that he could but alas, once again he'd proceeded to drown himself in self doubt and misery blinding himself with the dark and looming walls of his own mind.

"Rei I just can't do it. I can't do it…" By now Shinji would have been crying, but orange liquid surrounding him robbed him even of his tears. His body slumped over and he dragged his knees up to his chest. "I'm so fucking useless…" A delicate hand landed itself on his shoulder. Rei tried her best to comfort him, but could bring no words to part her lips, nor could her hand part his shoulder. Finally, she regained her thoughts and knowledge of the most important thing at hand.

"Shinji… Do you remember that time when you fought your first angel? Or one of those times that your Eva continued to function long after it's power source was supposed to deplete?" She probed, gripping his shoulder a bit tighter.

"Yeah… But that wasn't me… I blacked out. It was Unit-01's doing all of those times… I had no part in any of those victories." Shinji buried his face deeper into his legs, trying to stifle and hide tears that Rei could never have seen in the first place.

"You have no idea how wrong you are Shinji… You must stop viewing Eva as a machine, as a tool… You must feel it, as an extension to your own physical and mental body. You must bond with the Eva, and only then will you ever fully understand…"

"There is nothing to understand… I'm useless, and therefor don't need to understand anything…"

"Shinji, those blackouts were a result of your own rage and fury. The only reason that you don't remember, was because all of your fear, rage, and insecurity was for an instant transferred into Unit-01's own mentality." They stayed silent for a minute or two, before they both saw the walking mountain of stone lift it's mighty foot and take another sluggish step, causing the Eva to sway.

"Shinji… A friend told me to deliver this to you, just in case you needed some help… I'm sorry, for what this will do to you…"

"Wait, what?" Shinji attempted to protest, just as Rei clamped her hands down tight on either side of his head.

"Rei! Tell me what you're doing! Do what to me?" He struggled, but Rei had already achieved what she wanted.

"Geeeaaaaaaaaah!" His body started to convulse, and his eyes rolled into the back of his head. Multitudes of scenario's and images danced through Shinji's mind, and it seemed that he was forced to watch. Screams echoed out, blood curdling screams that cried for help, for salvation, for vengeance. He saw skyscrapers falling in flames against a blood red sky. Entire cities that he did not recognize were decimated by monstrous explosions. Within his own head, he witnessed such horrible things. Oh what phantasm wreaked it's havoc on his mind? What looked to be once humans numbered in the hundreds before him. They were all twisted, blood soaked monstrosities of flesh that looked as if multiple people had been melted into one. The blink of an eye, and the toss of a shovel. Mounds upon mounds of the dead and rotting piled up. Their eyes bloated out of their skulls, and rotting lacerations and blisters covered their corpse's. Atop the mound, a winged figure with a glowing blue aura appeared, and within his hands hung something vaguely familiar to a chainsaw. A glint of sun caught the diamond tipped teeth of the chain and the shine echoed out with vibrancy. The ravenous instrument in this angelic figures hands protested an alien humming sound. With a mighty thrust he jammed the moving teeth of the blade between his feet and into the mound, chewing apart the limbs and appendages of dead bodies. A few more appeared to partake in this gloriously gory ritual. Taking positions around this mountain of wasted humans they too thrust the saws down and began to reduce the sizes of all the dead that occupied it. Coagulated brown and red blood spattered and stained their white feathery wings. The people reduced in numbers, the angelic figures set fire to the mound and took their leave elsewhere. The blink of an eye, red skies, and a towering stone figure that roams the wastelands beneath sovereigns of smoke and the smell of blood which hung heavy in the air. Then, darkness. Light started to expand outward from a pinprick in the middle of the dark. The memories of zero impact.

Shinji was thrown back into the real world violently, not but a minute or two. The brightness of the setting sun stung his eyes. Shinji felt queasy, overheated, and delirious. The world outside and in the plug was a blur, melting into a collage of fuzzy figures and fluctuating colors.

'Just… What the hell was that? To what do I owe these dreams?' The same comforting hand touched down upon his shoulder, gentle and soothing on his skin. Numbly he swayed back and forth, head spinning in a maelstrom of confusion and fleeting emotions.

'Rage… Fury… Vengeance… More beautiful, than they will ever be…' Shinji snapped back into awareness. His eye danced in an involuntary spasm, and an ember of belligerence sparked into an intense inferno of blind fury. His shoulders began to heave, and his breaths morphed to pants.

"Mother-f-f-ffffucker!" Shinji shouted. His blood ran on the brink of boiling, and his heart rate jumped threefold. He tried to stay relevant and aware, but in this blind rage his head once again started to swim and he began to sway.

'Shit! I'm gonna to black out again!' This stray thought struck him to late, for they were the last thoughts that he remembered before all faded to black.

Things were different through Rei's eyes. Shinji did not black out, but went completely silent. Neither of them spoke for a minute, before Shinji chiseled through the silence.

"Let's do this damnit." These were his only words, and Eva Unit-01 took off into a sprint. Tree's and grasslands flew by in evanescing blurs of green and brown. They stomped through puddles, and bogs Unit-01's massive foot imprinting the mud on the bottom with it's tread. It's ninja-like spidery figure leapt and bounded over boulders and small hills. Finally out of the cover, Unit-01 broke out of the forest triumphantly. It stopped there for a second, it's wicked figure gracing the ground behind it with a shadow. Glowing eyes squinting as Unit-01 tilted it's head upwards towards the stone offender, it's mouth opened and the Eva bellowed a ferocious roaring war cry.

Inside of the Eva, Rei shrank back as Shinji tilted his head upward and let out a savage scream. His body language was almost predatorial. Rei rocked side to side some as the Eva was jeered by another tremor set forth from their enemy's foot.

Shinji did not look down and see his hands upon the trigger handles as usual. Rather, he gazed four to five stories down at hands composed completely of metal, purple and gray in color. Though he did not conciously know it, he was seeing what Unit-01 saw, and as he rubbed his hands together, was feeling what Unit-01 felt. A quake rattled the ground underfoot, and Shinji spread his legs to stabilize himself. He swore that something else was present.

'It's as if… That invisible hand from before, rests on my shoulder again…' Relevant thought soon disappeared when his goal was remembered. A kick of his right leg, and he was off into a sprint again. Metal legs pumped and pounded the dry terrain as he made his way across the now open plane. He quickened up the pace, and the Eva turned to a purple blur, and running to beat hell it broke the sound barrier. A cone of vapor formed in front of the unit momentarily, but he soon broke through it at a speed of Seven Hundred and Twenty miles per hour. Unit-01 met up with it's foot. With a primal leap he clawed onto the edge of it's foot and began to climb up. Once on top, he dashed along the length of it. Meeting up with the joint where the foot and the rest of the leg connected, Shinji engaged Unit-01's assault rifle. Taking aim, he unloaded an entire clip into the cracks where the rock folded everytime it took a step. Tracers skipped and bounced back, pinging off of his armor. The clip was wasted to no avail, for the bullets only chipped and cracked small pieces away from the stone, not even a dent worth bringing it down. Rei said that it was a messenger, with the same intent as the rest of the angels as before. Shinji decided that he would classify it as an angel.

'Damnit! Looks like I'll have to work at this.' Thrusting it's fingers into the stony leg of the enemy that loomed over the distant Tokyo-3 Unit-01 began it's long and perilous climb.

"WHAT? ANOTHER ANGEL?" Misato screamed into the cell-phone that NERV HQ contacted her through. "Unit-01's already missing? Shit! Alright, I'll be there with Asuka in about ten minutes." Misato folded her cell shut and jammed it into her coat pocket.

"Shinji's already gone? What IS that kid thinking!" Asuka protested loudly.

"Shut up Asuka! Quit shouting! I'm trying to drive here okay?" Misato snapped at her.

"Well, it's not my fault Mister valiant had to rush out of NERV without telling anybody to fight this thing alone!" Misato stayed silent, concentrating on taking the now empty street corners at full speed without crashing. The back end of the car slid out behind them in a powerslide. Misato was a devil when it came to driving, let alone a stickshift sports car. "He's not stealing the spotlight that easily…" Asuka mumbled, hanging onto a support handle near her window.

"Jesus Christ Asuka! Is that all you ever think about? Being better than everybody else? That's what fucked you up the last time! Remember? SHIT!" Misato swerved off of the road as they were almost railed by a bus evacuating people to one of the shelters. The front end of her car knocked a parking meter out of the ground like a toothpick. It flipped up onto the hood and cracked the windshield, clanging into the ground behind them. She jerked the wheel to the left and brought the car back off to the sidewalk. The rest of the ride was just as violent, but silent nonetheless.

"They say that it's located somewhere west of the city. I wonder if we can see it once we get past all of these building and complexes? After a minute or so the wall of buildings blocking their view out of the city ended abruptly, and they became enveloped in another kind of shadow. "Oh my god…" Misato uttered in pure shock and disbelief. Asuka had nothing to say, her jaw simply dropped and hung there as she gazed out the window. It had a somewhat human shape, but easily towered over any of the tallest buildings within Tokyo-3, and quite frankly it could probably pick up one of the skyscrapers and swing it about like a bat if it wanted to. They could tell it was distant from the city because of the obscurity in it's shape against the skyline, but even as far away as it was, both Asuka and Misato knew that if this were to reach the city, all would be lost. With Misato completely disregarding the speed limit signs, they made it to NERV headquarters in just over Eleven minutes, with Asuka suited up and present in Unit-02 within four more. After another minute later she was being shot up to the surface on the service lift.

"He climbed out?" Misato asked one of the nearest engineers.

"Yes Major Katsuragi, the powers been cut out here for the past couple of months now. You had us cut grooves into the side of the shaft just incase of this type of situation, do you not remember?"

"Yes, I remember…" She said in a dissatisfied tone, rubbing her temples in a gesture of uneasiness and frustration. "Have you tried to use any other force besides the Eva's?" She questioned a nearby representative of NERV's strategic battle planning sector.

"Yes ma'am we have, but have had no effect. We've hit it with cruise missiles, Air to Surface missiles, basic ballistic shells via JSSDF tanks and offshore vessels. None have proven to be effective, not even a barrage of N2 mines."

"Hmmm…" Misato puzzled over the matter for a second."

"Excuse me ma'am?"

"Huh? Oh, yes?" She replied as her thought broke.

"We do have a satellite image of Unit-01 attempting to _climb_ the angel. The angel doesn't seem to have noticed him yet."

"Wait! He's climbing that thing, and you guys tried to hit it with N2 mines and missiles?" Frustration began to suffocate any peace of mind left within her.

"Well… Unit-01 was not affected by the blasts of any of the JSSDF's attacks Miss Misato. It was protected by the angels AT field." The official pushed his glasses up on his nose with one finger; a fashion that was suited to most NERV employees sporting white coats and glasses.

"Wait, what? How is that possible?" Misato demanded, obviously confused.

"Well, if you'll come this way Misato, I'll show you what we mean." He motioned her to come with him into the next room. They rounded a corner into the Control Room. There Misato met up with Ritsuko and Maya, her second in command.

"You'll find this very interesting Misato." Ritsuko stated proudly, stepping over to the main data screen computer console. She opened up two windows, each focusing on the massive stony angel approaching the city. The first one was a regular exterior view, and the latter was a green digitally reconstructed grid shaped like the angel. "You see, we don't believe that the angel completely knows how to use it's own AT field. We're positive that it basically knows how to project it's AT field's extra energy, and strongly so. However, we don't believe that it knows how to repel an enemy once it's _too _close. Allow me to show you what I mean." Ritsuko stepped over to the main console. She poked and prodded at a few buttons, turned a few switches. "Aoba, would you please run the simulation?"

"Yes Dr. Akagi." Aoba Shigeru initiated the sequence. The green geometric grid of the angel enlarged, temporarily blocking out all other windows.

"You see Misato, for this we sent out a new prototype of information gathering device. We call it N.A.D, otherwise known as a Nanoscopic Analysis Device. Once again Misato's usual self surfaced, and she snickered.

"Nice name for a piece of spy equipment Ritsuko."

"Oh do grow up Misato. It wasn't intentional. Now if you'll please set your attention to the screen…" The simulation started. A small red dot advanced on the digital model of the angel rapidly. Using hand motions Dr. Akagi pointed out all of the details. "Aoba, slow the simulation down by two times."

"Got it Dr. Akagi." The red dot advanced on the angel more slowly now.

"As you and I both know Misato, an angels AT field also serves as it's shield, thus it uses it as such, only raising it to repel an immediate threat." Ritsuko nodded.

"I'm following ya." Misato signaled.

"Well, when the red dot which of course symbolizes the NAD, hit's the target it will explode." She motioned towards the screen as the red dot collided with the digitally imaged angel, it then separated into hundreds of smaller red dots. "Now you also know that an angel will let it's AT field down again a few seconds later, justifying the belief that it is not a continuous field. These red dots symbolize the smoke of the explosion. It is composed of a metal filament in which the nanites reside." Another green grid, nothing short of a wall appeared on the screen. Temporarily it prevented the red dots from advancing any further towards the angel, but soon disappeared. "The nanites found a way in through a few cracks in the angels body, and it's eyes. After about thirty minutes of searching the insides of it's body, about twenty four thousand nanites concluded that the angel is very basic, but very powerful. It's outer layer is composed of a very hard and very durable stone that we have not been able to identify yet. It has basic organs, such as nerves and contracting masses of a soft kind of clay material for movement, along with an energy output organ somewhat similar to the S2 engine. It has a central nervous system, and a very basic and crude one at that. It is located just behind and between the eyes, and we believe that if either Unit were too impale it with an active progressive knife, the molecular vibrations would disrupt and travel through it's entire nervous system. The angel would begin to vibrate profusely, and start to fall apart." Ritsuko stopped speaking for a moment.

"So that's all that either of them have to do too stop it?" Misato questioned, ready to issue the commands to both Units.

"Well, the thing is that the angel is so big that it did not notice the first Unit, but after Shinji opened fire on one of it's joints we think it has become more aware. If Asuka isn't careful, she could be hurt very badly. I urge you too tell the both of them this Misato, and tell Asuka to disengage and stand by for backup. This is something only Shinji will be able to carry out, for the angel is not coordinated enough to suck it's AT field any closer to it's body, thus giving Shinji a clear road to victory if it is unable to throw him off."

"Alright then… I'll tell them right now." Misato nodded to Dr. Akagi and headed over to the communications hub.

"Shinji! Can you hear me? Come in" 

"Huh? What? Misato?" Shinji questioned as the radio cackled

"_Shinji! Are you alright?"_ She replied worriedly.

"Yeah Misato, I'm fine."

"_Shinji, why did you leave so early? How did you know about this angel before we did?"_ Misato demanded. The angel's AT field littered the airways with static. _"Do you even know what you're doing up there?"_

"Well… I don't have the time to explain that right now… As far as what I'm doing I don't really know Misato. Right now I'm just tryin to find a way to bring this thing down…"

"Shinji, if it reaches the city—" 

"I know what's going to happen if it reaches the city Misato… I know…"

"_Well Shinji. I have some good news. Dr. Akagi's told me some things that will likely help you in bringing this thing down, however you won't likely get a whole lot of help from Asuka due to the Angels AT field."_

"Why not? I managed to get up here just fine."

"_Well Shinji, when you shot at the angels ankle joint, it became more aware. It didn't notice you, but it'll sure as hell notice Asuka. Then there's the fact that her Eva doesn't yet contain a working S2 engine. The angel isn't smart enough to suck it's AT field in close to it's body so you're safe, but even if Asuka did manage to get on the angel, one it decided to raise it's AT field it would sever her umbilical cord. She's there for backup, but most of this I'm sorry to say… Lies in your hands Shinji."_

"If only I could in some way help…" Rei sighed.

"_Shinji, who was that? Is somebody in there with you?"_ Misato questioned, hearing Rei's voice in the plug with him.

"Uh, I… Asuka I don't have time to explain that just yet, can you tell me how to kill it?"

"_Uh… Sure. Shinji, there's a central nervous system located right behind and between it's eyes. What you have to do, is stab it with your progressive knife. Once it's in, leave it there. The angel will fall apart, so do your best to get out of harms way. I'll send you the data that Dr. Akagi's given me via the Eva's data comm. Port… But seriously, is there anybody in there with you? Who is it? Shinji I could have sworn that I heard somebody else's voice!"_

"Misato I don't have the time to explain right now! okay?" Shinji said hurriedly. "Just wish me luck." With that said Shinji switched off the comm. System. "Right behind it's eyes Rei… This is going to be one hell of a climb…" Now just above it's knee Shinji continued to climb one arm length at a time, making his long procession up the moving cliff face. He felt his stomach heave into his throat, knowing that the angel was taking another step. Digging his fingers into the stone, he clung tight while digging his heels in the best that he could. His stomach heaved downward and the entire Unit rattled.

"Aah!" Unit-01 lost it's grip and found itself hanging from the angels leg by one hand. Shinji pulled himself back up and regained his grip on the angel. "Damn…"

"Be careful Shinji." Rei warned him. "If you fall, there will be no second chance to defeat this angel. Once you are out of it's AT field, you—"

"I know Rei. I won't be able to get back in." She nodded.

"Correct Shinji." He sighed and stretched for a moment.

"Well, I suppose we better keep moving."

"What do you mean I can't get through?" Asuka shouted scornfully over the Comm. Link. "If Shinji did, I sure as hell can!"

"_Asuka! No you can't! And even if you do make it past the AT field, if he chooses to raise it your umbilical cord'll be severed!" _

"I won't hear of it!" Asuka switched off the communications console and took charge of her Eva once again. She attached an umbilical cord from a nearby power station on the outskirts of the city. She was guaranteed at least Seventy Five miles of cable from the massive reel that was stationed underground. She bolted off towards the angel, kicking up dust as she made her way along. After about fifteen minutes she was just coming up on the angel which towered over her. "The bigger they are, the harder they fall!" Drawing her progressive knife and rifle she charged towards it's foot, ready to climb.

"Uagh!" Asuka jolted to a halt, and she felt her Eva tip over onto it's back. She had hit the AT field. "What the hell!" Her visual screens filled with static momentarily. Soon after though they once again came back into focus. A large shadow fell upon Unit-02. Asuka's eyes filled with panic as she gazed upon the bottom of the offenders massive foot. "Shit!" She tried to roll out from under the angel as the impeding stone armageddon rushed down at her. The light of the sun once again spilled onto her face and she thought she was in the clear. This she only thought, for in truth it was not reality. The stone appendage crushed down upon the ground, crushing with it Unit-02's legs. They were severed completely from the rest of the Eva. Asuka's ears were filled with the shrieking of twisting and tearing metal, and her legs were washed over by the most intense searing pain imaginable. She felt as if they were on fire, every last nerve below her waist screamed in agony.

"Eeaaaaahgh!" She wailed, clutching her legs. Tears welled in her eyes, floating away in the Orange LCL. It was five or so minutes that she lay there, writhing and screaming whilst she clutched her legs in unbearable pain before the angel lifted it's foot once again. A piece no bigger than a phone book littered the ground where Unit-02's legs once lay, for even if there was it was likely buried beneath the soil. Laying there in a fetal position clutching her legs, Asuka watched as the angel lumbered forward with another step. The crash caused her Eva to launch a few feet from the ground as if they were on a trampoline. When she hit the ground another jolt of pain shot through her legs.

"Eaaahgh!" She screamed again. Limply placed sideways in her seat, she surveyed the visual screen with sorrow filled eyes. To her despair, she noticed that the severed stub of an umbilical cord lay on the ground before her. It sparked with electricity occasionally.

"Damnit…" Mustering what energy was left in her body Asuka switched her reserve power over to the life support system, and slumped over in her seat. She switched on her Comm. Link once again.

"_Asuka! Are you okay? The control room computers are saying that your legs are badly damaged! What's going on out there?" _The voice probing her for an answer was that of Makoto, one of the three operators responsible for tracking the Eva's during operations and missions.

"They're gone…" Asuka uttered.

"_Say what?" _cackled the voice on the other end of the line. Before he could get a reply out of her, another jolt shook the Eva and Asuka struck her head on a piece of equipment inside. Rendered unconscious, she crumpled into her seat.

'This was too damn easy…' Shinji thought to himself. He was just below the angels massive chest, and steadily climbing upwards. All seemed fair and well, and he felt as if he were in the clear. No sooner had he thought this that something orange appeared on his visuals. It grew larger, and then completely enveloped him. Shinji watched the external temperature readout rise dramatically.

"Shinji… It looks like magma." Rei piped over his shoulder in her characteristically soft tone.

"Yeah Rei… I think you're right." He stated. "What is this, some kind of defense mechanism?" Shinji's brow furrowed. The temperature was rising outside, but not at a completely alarming rate. All in the name of irony it seemed, every single emergency indicator went off all at once. Shinji watched be-dazzled in confusion as the external temperature began to skyrocket.

"Shinji!" Rei exclaimed. "You must get to the top, before the temperature exceeds your Eva's limits." She impressed her hand upon his shoulder once more. Looking on, Shinji seemed to become angry. A snarl surfaced underneath his lips, and his eyes filled with a fiery rage. His breaths grew shallower, and quicker.

"Geaaah!" His body jerked back. The same horrid images from before began to pour into his head. Mounds upon mounds of bodies, angelic figures hacking them apart. Entire cities in flames, and flesh born crimes against humanity. Zero Impact.

Shinji blacked out again, or rather passed into a side of himself he did not know, one that possessed neither reasonable thought nor memory. The jerked downward a little as Shinji lost some of his grip thanks to the downward current of molten rock. His fingers started to slip, and they began to slide away. It was here that this fury known to be quit so alien to Shinji surfaced once again, and he became whole with Unit-01.

"I swear to all that's unholy, by nightfall you ARE going to fall by my haaaaaaand!" Shinji screamed at the top of his lungs. Rei shrank back once again, this side of Shinji unbeknownst to her. Shinji looked down at his free hanging hand. Once again, it was not white but purple and gray, and composed of metal and polymer materials.

Unit-01 issued forth a monstrous roar capable of rivaling in size and spirit, that of the giant stone angel from which it hung. Clawing into the stone, Unit-01 fought the currents of rushing lava. Arm length by arm length, it fought every inch of the way. What seemed like hours, indeed took hours, three to be exact. Hours of meticulous planning and strategically re-locating himself often to avoid the continuous onslaught of magma brought him to the stony beasts shoulder. Inside the plug, during this time he rarely uttered a single word. Any noises coming from him were no more than grunts and the occasional curse, accompanied by Rei's words of assurance, transparent in Shinji's ravenous state of mind.

"Shit… I never noticed how beautiful Tokyo-3 was at night…" Something dark had lodged itself in Shinji's voice. Not to be confused with something sinister, for this new tone in his voice that could often be found in his times of anger held no air of evil, but nonetheless nothing short of sounding grim.

"What Shinji?" Rei questioned, lost in this observation of his general tone and body language.

"The city, it's beautiful… So peacefully glowing, elegant… Almost as much so as the one accompanying me in this seat… Whom hopefully someday I may call my intimate, but until then—"

"_Shinji!" _The cackle of the radio interrupted them. It was Misato. _"Our scouts have told me that you're on the shoulder, and just standing there! Why aren't you moving?" _

"Oh… I'm sorry Misato… Well, I guess it's time to carry on then." Rei watched from behind as Shinji's body language shifted. The metamorphosis took place, what was for a special few minutes docile, gentle and elegant evolving into something primal, predatorily and ravenous for _something_. The first answer to that _something_ in Rei's mind was violence. It was something so alien to Shinji, so blasphemous. An occasional outburst was common with him, but when these same emotions had fallen prey to hyperbole he seemed nothing short of bloodthirsty. He moved with Eva, he groaned and growled with it. Meticulously staring ahead over his shoulder, Shinji moved the Eva forward. Step after step, heel to heel he inched forward.

"_Shinji! Take it down now! If it doesn't break up it'll fall on parts of the city, and the quake'll be catastrophic! HURRY!" _The angel turned it's massive head. Thought it was undersized for the rest of it's body, it was still quite large. To the angel, the purple and green Eva was no bigger than an insect on it's shoulder, but most insects weren't armed with a gas powered fully automatic assault rifle who's power rivaled that of a battlecruiser's double barreled Anti-Aircraft gun, capable of piercing some of the deepest and most state of the art anti-ballistics armor. The rifle spat a steady stream of yellow tracer rounds into the pupil of one of it's gigantic green eyes. The angel turned it's head away from the armed insect on it's shoulder, filling the air with the deepest and most acrimonious groan. It sounded musical, and sadly almost beautiful. If only the beast had been making the sound during another time rather than when it was about to die, it's beauty might have been realized.

"Whoa!" Unit-01 dropped down and clung to the angels shoulder, crawling as close to it's head as possible. A tremendous crash rattled the Eva profusely, almost causing Shinji to fall off. The angel had tried to shake him off, but it was a sad attempt for if it tipped to much, it was sure to fall thus limiting it's ability to throw him away. Rising to his feet once again Shinji turned around to witness the angels massive stony hand clamped over a part of it's shoulder. "Shit that was close…" He uttered irately. Turning back he saw that the Angel once again had it's head turned. It's head was a simple shape, that of an upside down bucket. It adorned two massive green eyes, one of which had been shredded by Shinji's assault rifle. It had what one might assume to be a mouth, which was really nothing more than an "O" shaped hole located below it's eyes. Shinji stared back into it's green eyes.

"You're really starting to piss me off, you brick on fucking legs!" Unit-01 lunged forward, drawing it's progressive blade modeled after a bowie knife. Shinji jammed the length of his arm through the ooz pouring out of the angels now exposed pupil. His visuals went blue, mapping out where the nervous center was behind it's eyes. Shinji activated the blade and impaled it. Doing as Misato had instructed he left the blade in there. Unit-01 climbed on top of the angels head, gazing down upon the city which lay about a half of a mile out before them, it was beautiful.

"Jeez… We really cut it close…" Shinji closed his eyes, and opened them once again. Now, not only did he see through Unit-01's eyes as if he himself were the Eva, but he swore that he could feel the cool winds against his skin, now composed of metal. A strange sort of adrenaline coursed through his body, and he could feel the presence of Unit-01's own soul. It was a proud feeling, justified and dignified, but plagued with a darkness that all instruments of war must endure. Shinji could feel it as well. The spiritual shadow flourished, and was racing back and forth in Shinji's mind.

'These are… The feelings, the thoughts of Unit-01…' Shinji knew that his Eva was mapped after Lilith, but had no idea that it was anything more than a tool. No. As Rei had stated, his Eva WAS an extension of his own self, a mirror. Something with which, he could actually relate. The adrenaline coursed through his body in short bursts, and he felt something panicked in the back of his head.

'It's… Okay…' He thought, gazing down upon the city and rest of the world that lay a mile below. 'As much as I might now truly know you… I understand… I truly do…' He must have been talking to Unit-01 somehow, connecting with it in a way he had never before because the distant panicked feeling that felt as if it were in the back of his head, yet somehow distant vanished. He thought that he could almost feel the presence of easiness and docility, evanescing off of some other being close by.

"Shinji…" It was Rei. He could see her, but could almost feel her inside.

'Huh?' He placed a metallic hand on the back of his neck, where he thought he could feel the voice coming from.

'Yes Rei?' he thought.

"Shinji… You realize Unit-01's true presence do you not? That it is no longer simply a tool?"

'Yes… Yes I do Rei…'

"Now is the time that you stop referring to Unit-01 as _it_, and give it a name with which you can recognize his identity for who he is. Something more heartfelt than a unit number… Now after this, and after immense victory… This is the time to christen your Eva…"

'Right…' Shinji thought for a second. Shinji knew the name, to be called after his most favored emotion, vengeance.

'Neo-Vengeance…'

"Why is this Shinji?"

'Because, vengeance is one of the best ways to get a person to remember…Brother to revenge, the act of bringing justified punishment, of bringing swift justice to those who have hurt you in the past. The word Neo symbolizes new, and with this Eva I will bring swift new vengeance before the crime can be carried out, and anybody can be hurt. For those who have fallen, I will deliver the revenge that they could not.'

"I am glad Shinji… Now please, return to me… We have a friend to help…" The short conversation, and the christening of Unit-01 happened in a rather awkward way, as if a scene from a poem. Shinji did not really think about what he spoke, but rather spoke what he felt he had to. Shinji knew that Rei knew more than she was letting on. He hadn't even had the time to question Rei over all of these things of which she spoke. Half of them she spoke in riddles, as if some kind of prophet. Both of their thoughts were interrupted by yet another jolt that rocked the Eva.

"Damn! Hold on tight Rei, this things going to rock and roll the hell out of us. It's starting to fall apart." Making itself noticed for the first time in the past few minutes, the angel let out another tortured groan, identifiable with a couple hundred killer whales were it's cries. They lurched from side to side as Shinji attempted to keep his balance. The angel began to tip towards the city, picking up incredible speed.

"Shit! Misato! Try to have everybody prepared for a very large quake in both the shelters and NERV central! We're about a half a mile away from the city, but this thing's at least a mile tall!" The radio cut out soon after. The angel stumbled forward stupidly, slowing it's descent by only a little bit. The effects of the progressive knife in it's nerve center were starting to take effect. Chunks of rock began to fall from under Shinji's feet, magma burst from the open cracks.

"We've got to get away from this thing! Otherwise we'll get caught up in the wreckage when it hits the ground, and we're toast!" Shinji alerted Rei. "Grab on tight, it's going to be a bit bumpyyyyyy!" She wrapped both arms around his shoulders, and her legs around his waist holding on for dear life. It felt as if they were being hurled through a belt of asteroids as Shinji desperately tried to bound from mass to mass of free falling rock, getting as far away from the falling angel as possible. He saw the last decently sized rock, and falling freely he reached out. The newly christened Unit Vengeance clawed into the massive boulder, and with all of it's strength pulled itself up and over the rock shooting out into the open.

"Thank god for physics!" Shinji shouted. The ride was still bumpy, as they were pelted by smaller rocks continuing to fall away from the angel and large blobs of magma that rained from above. Due to the angel falling forward, the inertia at which the angels shoulders swiftly moved forward and downward caused Vengeance and it's pilot to be flung forward in an arch like a pebble from a catapult. They were now free falling above the city, as was half of the walking landmass classified as an angel.

"Ten se-cond-s unt-il im-pact!" Vengeance poised for impact, readying the position of it's limbs to be used like springs.

"Eight seconds!" The ground hurled up at them, the ants of buildings growing much more distinguishable.

"Fou-r se-cond-s!" The plug rattled more violently than ever before. Street lines were now visible, they could see cracks in the rooftops of some of the buildings. One second left…

Vengeance almost made a clean landing, just like it would have had it been dropped from an aerial transport, but a stray stone just above them about the size of a gas station convenience store complicated things. They hit the ground cleanly in one of the city parks, the Eva's limbs absorbing the impact with precision. Shinji turned his head to gaze upon Rei, her face was nestled into his shoulder. Just when she looked up, something quaked the inside of the plug and she saw Shinji crash into the ceiling of the plug before all of the internal lights shut off and the visual monitors disappeared. There was a sound of twisting metal, and it felt like some sort of pressure was being impressed on Vengeance's frame.

"Shinji!" Rei called through the darkness. Groping about, trying to feel her way over to him she crawled forward. After groping about for awhile Rei thought that she had accidentally passed him up, going unnoticed from likely being unconscious.

"Shinji?" She thought about crawling further, when her toes touched down on something warm. She pressed down on whatever it was a bit harder, keeping it there so as not to loose him. It felt to her like his face. She ran her hand down the length of her leg, up her thigh and down her shin before finally locating his cheek, replacing her foot with her hand.

"Shinji…"

"Yeah?" She heard him reply weakly.

"Hmmm… Shinji…" Locating the rest of his body, she wrapped her arms around Shinji and pulled him closer. He did the same, wrapping his arms around her waist but with difficulty. Pulling each other tighter into one another's embrace, they sat there in the admiration of darkness, appreciating how it felt to hold somebody so closely, and so warmly.

"Shinji… The rescue team should be here soon…"

"I know…" He said, hugging her tighter. "For now… Let's just get some rest…" Shinji fell asleep in her arms. Normally it was his custom to be _respectful_ if you would call it that, and never cozy up to a girl like this, but after the previous events he didn't feel like he had the energy to debate such things with himself. Rei followed suit not long after, cradling her head into his chest. The both of them drifted off to a deep slumber in each other's arms with dreams in their heads that rivaled those of a fairytale. Both had never slept better within the past year or so than they did today. Even Rei was lost to unconsciousness, though she had been dead for a year. Their chests rose and fell in breaths synonymous with one another, both awaiting the rescue teams yet never wanting them to come.


	5. Shakeup

Heya guys. These next two chapters should keep you fairly satisfied for now. They're kind of serving as filler chapters, not very long… But believe me, chapter seven will be long enough to hold your interest. I'll try to update more often too, you guys have no idea how encouraging some of your reviews are. Well, I don't really have much more to say… Than get reading so… Enjoy!

Twitch

"Everybody! Prepare for an emergency! We're about to be hit by a massive quake!" Misato shouted as she rushed into the control center. "I just got a transmission from Unit-01! The angel has begun to fall apart, but will mostly still be intact when it's hits the ground within the city limits! This things made of stone, and it's at least a mile tall! You do the math!" Everybody looked at Misato awkwardly for a second.

"Well don't just sit there damnit, it's comin—" Misato was cut off and thrown off of her feet by a massive tremor that shook and rattled the inside of the control room, the rest of NERV HQ and the entire city. The power cut out instantly, but through the passageway of the ears one could hear the pandemonium of the invisible and darkened scene quite well. Laying on the ground with a fresh gash in her head, Misato watched as the lights flickered once or twice. During one of these instances in which the power flickered back on for a split second, she witnessed pure chaos. As the ground shook, she saw Dr. Akagi lose her balance and tumble down the small flight of seven or so stairs that led down to the main computer consoles of the control room. One of the monstrous computer screens on which most of the Eva's data was visible shattered in a rain of threatening glass shards. Then once again, nothing but darkness. The low ominous rumble started up again. Misato could feel it start on one side of the room, and thunder over, besides and under her through the earth near and far. Another vicious jolt upward from the ground sent her rag body sailing a foot off of the floor, the impact of the way she hit the ground so violent that she managed to break her ankle in the process.

"Geah…" She heard the groans of many personnel that were caught by surprise. Chairs rolled everywhere blindly striking out at people and inanimate objects alike with the next jolt. More glass shattered, the glittering of broken glass against the ground chiming sharply in her ears.

"Umph!" The leg of a rolling computer chair struck her in the gut , knocking the wind out of her. Others screamed and yelped in pain and helplessness. Misato tried the best to resist painting a picture in her head to match the sounds she was hearing. As suddenly as it had started, it all ended. Curling up in a fetal position she tried to gather her thoughts. Clamping both hands over her head and focusing distantly into the pitch black she noticed the dampness on her hands. She had found the source of her dizziness, a large split in her scalp that bled profusely as the direct result of striking her head against the ground.

"Shit…" The backup generators kicked on shortly after, another precaution NERV had installed during the last power outage. About half of the lights in the room illuminated, the faint glow making everything distinctly visible. "Ugh… Fuck…" Sluggishly, Misato rose to her feet. Her head was swimming, her thoughts a cancerous pool of splitting head pains and confusion balanced meticulously on her shoulders. She saw Ritsuko sitting on the ground where she had fallen. Once the lights came on she rose, and noticing Misato's dizziness bolted up to help her.

"Misato! Are you alright?" Cupping her hand around Misato's elbow, she offered her some stationary support.

"I'm ph-ph-ffffine…" She seemed to vomit her words sluggishly. "Y-y-you need t-t-to check on Aoba…" Misato's eyes half lidded, they aimed their dazed look towards the spot where Aoba lay slumped against a computer terminal.

"Aoba!" Dr. Akagi shrieked and rushed down to his side. "Aoba? Aoba!" She shook him by the shoulders profusely, but got no response. His eyes did not open, nor did he utter a word. Trying her best to retain her gruff, cold and professional exterior Ritsuko checked his pulse and breathing. "He's fine." She alerted. "Just unconscious. Is anybody else hurt?" The rest of the control room personnel responded, most stating that they only had minor injuries such as cuts or sprained joints.

"We've got to check on the rest of the terminal." Ritsuko said, trying to gather a team to search for anybody that might have been hurt.

"N-no. W-we've gotta get to Shinji and Asuka, the internal emergency response and medical team'll take care of that…" Misato's head was still swimming, but had dimmed from a maelstrom of disorientation to dizziness and slurred speech.

"Miss Katsuragi! Dr. Akagi! We've lost total contact with Unit-01!" One of the analysts alerted the two. Shortly after the generator had come on, all of the control room computers re-booted to the state they were in before the power went out. One screen was shattered, and the other was cracked down the middle. The image was slightly distorted, but it still worked so they transferred Unit-01 and 02's data feeds to the same screen.

"The last live information feed that we had from Unit-01 was the one mapping it's power usage, but judging by the sudden peak before communications were cut it looks like all power has been lost to Unit-01!" She exclaimed, concerned with the situation. It was just like that of any of the control room observers. They served as the translators between pilots and Eva's, ever concerned with any one thing hindering either in the heat of battle. Even under chaotic circumstances they were on the problem within seconds.

"W-w-what was the l-l-last recorded location of Unit-01?…" Misato questioned almost drunkenly.

"About 7.8 miles north of NERV headquarters located somewhere in the industrial section!"

"W-well I'm goin out there to check out the s-s-situation. After all of this, the entire retrieval crew's prolly forg-g-goten about them…" She started to bumble out of the control room and head for one of the personnel elevators.

"Misato wait! I'll go with you… I know I can't talk you out of going out there, but with your condition you're going to need some help. Come on." She clamped a hand on Misato's shoulder, helping to keep her stability.

"T-thanks Ritsuko" After another five minutes, they had a retrieval team together. One of them was heading towards Asuka's last recorded location. The convoy that Ritsuko and Misato rode with was on its way to retrieve Shinji and his Eva. It took the caravan about seven minutes to get to the industrial section and find Unit-01.

"Oh god… This doesn't look good…" The power to Unit-01 was indeed cut. Part of it could not be seen, for half of it's body was trapped under a boulder the size of a gas station. The Eva was stuck in a pose as it reached outward, looking as if it were trying to crawl out from under the stony abomination in it's last moments before it's energy ran out. The scene was somewhat morbid. Misato knew that the Eva could easily be repaired, but the way it desperately reached out with cold un-glowing eyes struck her negatively.

'Shit… I hope Shinji's alright…' The Eva's body structure and framework didn't look to be warped at all as it ran under the rock, so she was fairly confident that Shinji would be okay. Her speech improving some, she took charge of the situation.

"Okay! You g-guys! Back under the lip of the rock, and use the hydraulic lifts on the trucks to lift it off of the Eva!" She barked. The transport crew climbed into their vehicles. The transport trucks were monstrous. Easily doubling the size of a dump truck one would see at an Iron Range, they spanned the width of the highway. They rolled on ten massive heavy duty tires each, four in the front and six in the back to help support the dead weight of an Eva. Between the tires of the trucks standing about twenty five feet tall, a clearance of a Ten foot by Eleven foot space was allowed for most cars to travel under the fossil fueled abominations. Sometimes this was the case, because the trucks would normally take up the width of the road. Because they filed along one behind the other, the driver of the car was forced under what seemed to be a horrendously loud rolling tunnel, having not to manage under one, but four trucks. The behemoths diesel engines roared, coughed and powered to life; each one weighed in at about one-hundred tons. Backing the lips of their expansive titanium diamond plate cargo beds under the protruding part of the rock, each transport engaged it's hydraulic lift and began to lift the meteor sized boulder. The sound of stressed metal whispered through everybody's ears in a wailing moan, but Misato knew that the transports could take it. Two transports were parked on the other side facing away from the rock, prepared to take the brunt of the load when it rolled off of Unit-01. The stone began to teeter, before crashing down violently onto the beds of the other two transports. In unison they carried the boulder away and dumped the massive load before returning. By the time the two transports got back they were already working on getting the plug out.

"Come on, that's it!" They had finally managed to hook up a mobile power source to the ejection system. Ritsuko looked around thoughtfully, waiting to greet Shinji. It was then that she saw the red tint on one side of Misato's head.

"Misato!" She caught up with her, clamping a hand over her shoulder. "Misato you're bleeding from the head! Profusely I might add! You shouldn't be up like this! Go sit down, I'll take care of the rest of this." Misato shook Ritsuko's hand off of her shoulder.

"Thanks Ritsuko, but I'm fine. I have to see if Shinji's alright."

"But—"

"Ritsuko, I'm _fine._" Misato re-assured her as she swaggered to the side a bit. As Misato headed over to help the crew in ejecting the plug, one of the electricians approached Ritsuko.

"Why do you think the power was totally cut Dr. Akagi?"

"Your guess is as good as mine I guess. The only way I could see it happening is if the S2 engine was somehow damaged or affected."

"Guess so." The worker replied. After a few more minutes, the plug was sticking triumphantly erect from the back of the Eva's neck. They used one of the truck's cranes to pull it the rest of the way out since the Eva was face down, and set it down gently. Rushing over to the metal cylinder Misato pulled open the entry hatch. It flung open, a tide of LCL rushing over her feet as the plug emptied. She froze up the minute she looked inside. Her eyes widened in response to immediate shock of what she saw. She stood there completely motionless, not uttering a single word.

"Misato?" Ritsuko shouted. "Misato what's wrong?" Rushing to her side to witness what had rendered Misato speechless, she to dropped her jaw, swimming in disbelief as she peered inside of the plug.


	6. Just one of those days

Deep inside the plug, the two gazed upon a sight that neither could believe. Almost impossibly, they saw a very real, a naked, but nonetheless real human identical to Rei Ayanami curled up in Shinji's arms. They were laying on the bottom of the plug, just in front of the pilots seat. Both Ritsuko and Misato were speechless, unable to utter a word. Misato was the first to make any kind of noise.

"…rei…" Her eye spasmed. The figures eyes opened, crimson red were they, squinted against the moonlight invading the plug. It was night now, thirty-six minutes since the angel had fallen.

"…Yes?" The blue haired girl replied. Her soft and gentle voice stating her identity.

'My god… It sounds like her… She responded to the name…' Misato moved forward into the plug, stumbling to her knees. She sat there in bewilderment. "A-are you… Rei Ayanami, is that you?"

"Why yes Miss Misato, do you not recognize me?" Rei responded. Her eyes glinted with curiosity. Ritsuko was still speechless. "Hello Dr. Akagi, I do believe it's been awhile since I last saw you, how are you?"

"I-uh… I…" She fumbled with her words. With a ghostly hint of a smile Rei turned to Shinji who was currently asleep, and whispered in his ear. His eyes cracked open, fluttering a few times to adjust to the light. The moon was in full tonight, just bright enough to make Shinji squint.

"Misato!" He exclaimed excitedly. "I…" He went silent for a second or two, noticing how she was staring at the two of them in disbelief.

"Shinji, I don't believe that Miss Misato thinks I am who I say I am…" Rei shivered. Her naked petite body was no match for the intruding cold. She cuddled herself closer to Shinji, who accepted her and pulled her closer into his embrace. Head cradled on his chest, he stroked her hair thoughtfully. With the absence of his shirt one could see that he had endured a rough time in the Eva. His boyish shoulders, arms and part of his chest were heavily bruised. Tears welled into his eyes, and a smile spread across his fixed itself upon his face.

"It's true Misato. It's Rei, she's come back!" He hugged her tightly, tears of rejoice streaming down his face, a warm smile flashing. Millions of questions were racing through Misato's head. How did she come to be? Where did she come from? How was it possible? What did Shinji have to do with it? She decided to let the questions wait, and put on a soft and happy face.

"Well, come on out of there you two. You're both starting to shiver." Her eyes were comforting, docile face calling out to the two. First Rei climbed out. Misato gave her a standard wool military blanket to wrap around her shoulders. Next she herded Shinji out of the plug, wrapping a blanket around his shoulders as well. Ritsuko stared at her in alienation. Though still shocked, Misato simply shrugged. "Well Ritsuko, we've spent a good portion of our lives waging war against angels, and God himself. I guess anything's believable now." She patted Dr. Akagi on the shoulder as she passed by, leaving her to ponder upon this for a moment.

"Come with me guys." She walked the two over to an SUV labeled as a NERV vehicle. "Rei, we'll have to find you some clothes… That blanket isn't quite doing you much justice…" She stated. "Oh… Yeah… Shinji could you leave us for a second while I find her some clothes…. I—"

"Uh yeah, sure…" He said with a slight blush. "I'll just—"

"No." Rei said, placing a hand around Shinji's forearm. "I don't want him to go…"

"But Rei… You're, well… Not clothed and—" Misato stuttered.

"I'd feel more comfortable and secure… If he was here with me… I don't see why it is a problem Miss Misato. I have been naked this entire time, in the plug with Shinji ever since the attack of the angel started and it roused no problems. Why would it now?" Misato slapped herself in the forehead. The kid was confusing the hell out of her. She wanted to know why it was Rei wanted him there, when in reality most girls wouldn't and in part thoroughly detest the thought of a boy seeing them in such a state. She wanted to ask just _how _long she had been in the plug with him, and how she came to be. She simply settled to ignore this all and shrugged.

"Fine, whatever you say…" She rolled her eyes. The odd thing she noticed, was that Shinji did not protest this. After living with Shinji for so long, she knew that when it came to being in any kind of suggestive contact or situation with a member of the opposite sex, no matter how innocent he would become jumpy, and try to escape. This was different. Sitting there on the edge of the SUV's seat Rei had tugged on his shoulder, pulling him into the blanket with her. Her first thought was that she noticed Shinji himself was shirtless, and Rei wanted warmth. Studying their faces she could detect no kind of mischievous desire, no controversially intimate connection of any kind… But she did notice some kind of connection between the two. She couldn't quite place it, but she could sense a connection between the two. Ritsuko approached the three, still trying to clear her head.

"Listen Misato. You can go ahead and take them back to NERV HQ… I'm going to stay behind until we get Units One and Two rounded up." The ground shook beneath her feet as the hundred ton transport trucks moved about, the workers helping to lower the gigantic robot onto all four beds of the trucks. "We'll bring Asuka back with us of course.."

"That would be nice." Rei said, head rested atop Shinji's. "It has been a long while since I have seen Asuka too… I'm sure I would like to become friends with her again, seeing as she was not very happy with me the last time… Nonetheless, it would be nice." An innocent smile decorated her face.

"But of course Rei! I'm sure that she'll be happy to see you too." Ritsuko said, an enthusiastic smile clearly pasted on with the rest of her complexion. There was no covering up the fact that she was deeply puzzled and frustrated over the matter of Rei's return. She was of course ecstatic that Rei had returned, but the questions stabbed into her mind endlessly. Both Misato and Ritsuko eyed Shinji oddly. It was unlike him to act like this around any girl, this they both knew however it was really and act of him _not _acting. Here he was, curled up close to a female in a blanket who _was_ completely nude nonetheless, this due to the fact that Misato couldn't actually find any clothes for her. It was almost blasphemous to his nature.

"Alright." Misato agreed. "I'll see you back at HQ in a little while then." She hurried the two into the SUV. Huddled in the back seat, they were both asleep in less than a few minutes after Misato had pulled out of the crash sight. Misato navigated down the dark roads. Streets and main roads of the industrial sector had always been poorly lit surprisingly, thus causing her to rely mainly on her headlights to stay on the asphalt.

'Ugh… Ow!' A sharp pain pierced the side of her head, digging into her brain. Misato gritted her teeth, taking a hand off of the wheel to hold her head. She had forgotten about the wound on the side of her head. Her vision began to blur slightly. 'Fuck! It's probably a concussion…' Without warning or a hint of it's oncoming, the sharp pain ripped through her thoughts again. Her head became light, and dizzy, her vision becoming even more unclear. She seemed to nod off, only to snap awake for another second. Noticing that she was going off the road, she jerked the wheel and straightened the truck out. Slowly she nodded off not a few minutes later. A few more jerks of the wheel had awoken Shinji.

"Ugh… Misato, what's going on? Are you okay?" He uttered groggily. "Misato?" From the back seat he could see that she had completely slumped into the window. Glancing into the mirror he saw that her eyes were closed. She hung forward slightly, restrained by her seat belt. Her hands had slipped off of the wheel. Slowly the SUV veered into the oncoming lane.

"MISATO!" He shouted. It was to no avail. "Misato! Wake the fuck up!" He shook her vigorously by the shoulder. Rei, who had been startled by Shinji's shouting jumped out of her sleep.

"Shin-ji?" She questioned, tugging at his sleeve in a fashion similar to a sleepy little girl. "What's going on?" Her voice was barely audible above the thump of the tires going over the roads reflectors.

"Rei! Get you seatbelt on. Misato's fallen asleep! We're going to go off the road if I don't get up there." Unthinking of his own safety, he belted Rei and began to climb over the seat. His foot slipped and he found himself caught between the seat and the passengers side window and door momentarily. Looking up he saw that a guardrail to his direct left. A jolt rocked him violently when they hit it. The car careened to the right violently, rocking after the impact. Skipping off of the rail, it headed straight for a large rock off of the side of the road, it's height slightly above that of the hood.

"SHIT!" They drifted off of the road at Seventy-five miles per hour. A second later, they collided with the rock. The SUV came to a brutal stop. The windshield became increasingly larger in Shinji's eyes at a frighteningly fast rate. His shoulder ramming into the glass at Seventy-five miles per hour, he shattered it and was thrown through the window violently, his body resembling that of a rag doll. Doubled over and upside down, he witnessed in slow motion as the SUV flipped and became airborne for a few seconds. He watched in despair and horror as it came down on it's rooftop. Sailing through the air at a significantly higher speed than the SUV now skidding through the gravel on it's canopy, Shinji reached out while he was still airborne to the car and it's occupants, as if beckoning them to come back to him. Time finally caught up and his slow motion nightmare returned to a very painful reality when he felt himself hit the ground fairly hard, the inertia of his body burning his back against something rough. Thrown back onto the road he skipped across the asphalt a few times, the rugged black road tearing away at his skin. He rolled a few times, coming to a stop half over the yellow line. The moonlight glinted on pools of blood scattered across the street. He lay there sprawled out on the asphalt. One eye hurt immensely and he could not see out of it. Turning his head to use the one that was still good was a rather painful expense. Looking through the mostly shattered windshield he could see Misato hanging there upside down. His mind raced when he saw Rei curled up in heap on the roof of the overturned SUV.

"R-R-REEEI!" He shouted the best he could, stuttering with his words through a dislocated jaw. His chest convulsed in a painful protest to his shouting, and he keeled over.

"Ge-e-aaah!" He doubled over in pain whilst lying in the middle of the road. Turning back over he attempted to make it over to the vehicle. He had made sure that his legs were still functioning, but it hurt far to much to push with them, let alone even _try_ to walk. Digging his elbows into the asphalt he started dragging his body towards the wreckage, but winced in pain when a pang of hurt stabbed him in the shoulder. "F-f-f-fuck!" He grunted. Using only one arm, he slowly dragged the rest of his partially useless body across the road, getting closer and closer to Rei and Misato. Making it onto the shoulder, he rolled down the small grass declination and flopped over onto his stomach just under the hood of the upturned car.

"Rei…" He uttered, dragging himself into the car. Parts of the windshield scratched and cut him. Determined, he reached out and stroked her cheek. "Rei…" He choked out again. She stirred. Sluggishly she turned her head over so that her eyes could meet his..

"Shinji… You're… Hurt…" She coughed and hacked violently a few times, spitting up a fair amount of blood.

"Rei… How badly…" He stopped speaking for a few seconds. Once he got his breath back, he asked her "Are you… Hurt?" His eyes were filled with worry.

"I shall be fine… I think I'll live… What about you and Miss Misato?" Shinji had checked Misato's pulse a few seconds ago, and guessed that she would be fine. He himself was in horrible shape. Lucky to survive after being hurled through a windshield at Seventy-five miles an hour, it had fractured a part of his collar bone and dislocated his shoulder. The road had torn him up horrendously when he fell upon it at a speed of about fifty. Without a shirt of any kind, his shoulders, elbows and chest had been shredded to hell. They stung horrendously, bright red they dripped profusely with blood. Many bones in his legs had been either bruised or broken, along with a few ribs. His chin was mightily skinned up as well, issuing forth a steady stream of crimson that ran down his neck. Glass from the windshield had covered his body in lacerations and cuts, leaving him a bloody tenderized mess. Reaching out, Rei took a hold of his. He coughed and hacked violently a few times, spitting out a tooth. It pattered against the roof of the car. Gazing long into Rei's beautiful but despair filled eyes, they were the last thing he saw before all faded to black.


	7. Kicked in the ass by reality

_Yeah, I realize that some of you… A few characters may be out of order, but think of this. It has been a year since her death. I haven't incorporated anything about SEELE in here yet, but don't worry, it'll happen eventually. Rei has been in purgatory and hell for about a year, and has seen things and learnt things about life and death that she had no idea of before. People change, especially around the ages of 14 and 15. Even in a month, peoples personalities can change drastically based on changes in thought process, let alone a year. It's not to say that Rei is acting way out in left field. If she was, she would be all over the place. She has an emotional buildup now, but does not know exactly how to control it. For all of the people that keep telling me that **she should be passive, emotionless and vapid essentially**, that makes an especially boring character. The fans love Rei for her mysterious conduct, and drearily confusing past, not for her absence of emotion. And… If you're one of those that like her for her absence of emotion, you'd have to think that makes for a pretty boring character. One more thing. Numerous people have emailed me individually saying that I should be inserting things like **kun** after peoples names and other things like that. I'm not a japanophile, and I'm not from Japan so I'm not going to do it. The story is written in English, and it's staying that way. I'm sorry if this sounds a little ranty… But I've kinda had a bad day today, plus I keep hearing the same old "Rei is out of character" stuff. It's not to say that I'm rejecting all criticism, for many of you have made good points and are helping me along with this story in one way or another. Character and expectation of the act of a character are two different things though, and people change. This is the concept that most stories long and short are based around, character development. And now… Enjoy the story. Sorry if I pissed you off if this is too long. I'd like to leave this on a positive note, so enjoy! ;_

"Gray…" Shinji faded in and out of conciousness. From time to time he would wake for only a few seconds before passing out again. During these few seconds of awake and tangible thought all he could see was gray in intertwining shades, symbolic of an overcast sky. After what seemed like days, Shinji finally awoke once again. His head wasn't nearly as swimmy this time, and he felt that maybe he could stay awake. Again he saw the same gray mural painted above him, filling his vision completely. He lay there for a minute or two, until he felt something brush against his face. It was kind of scratchy, and cold. He turned his head, and witnessed a tall blade of crimson red grass mixed in with hundreds of other blades of grass identical to it. Sitting up he glanced about, bewildered as to where he was and how he got there. Around him for miles upon miles, as far as he could see an expanse high crimson grass flourished and completely covered the landscape. He went to stand, and heard a crunch under his feet. It was the refreshing crunch of snow under his shoes. It seemed that the first layer of the topsoil was completely composed of snow. Curious, Shinji pulled out a grass plant, but it came up fairly easily. There was no dirt surrounding the roots, only frozen crystals of water and snow. He realized that the gray mural above him earlier was indeed an overcast sky. He stood up, standing as the tallest thing for miles around save for a few hills in the distance. In the distance under darker clouds lightning flashed. A fair breeze swept through, persuading the sea of red grass to sway and dance. It came up to his waist, tickling at his bare stomach and forearms.

"W-w-where am I?" He questioned aloud. "Am I dead? Is this supposed to be heaven?"

"Oh I think not. Heavens the last place you'd wanna be, trust me on that one kid."

"Wha?" Shinji spun around to face a figure only a few inches taller than he. He was an odd looking fellow. He wore a long grayish-white trenchcoat. Underneath this he wore black. Black shirt, black gloves, and black pants tucked into knee high leather boots with a steel tips on them.

"Uh, who are you?" Shinji asked cautiously, obviously curious as to where this person came from.

"Edgar Archilaron at your service my friend." He replied. Shinji was still fixated on his odd appearance. He had jet black hair that Hung low in the back and sides in a choppy fashion, with a long spike bang that hung over his left eye. His lips were black, probably covered with some kind of lipstick or something. His skin was ghostly white, and his eyes were a deep turquoise. Black points that hung from the bottom corners of both eyes on the outermost parts of his face. One would say that Edgar looked "gothic", but the black seemed to be tattooed on, and he seemed eerie and kind of strange if anything. Looking him over Shinji noticed something. A large scythe with a blood colored blade hung from his back. This Edgar fellow must have been following his eyes the entire time because he said "Hey, don't worry. I'm not gonna kill you okay?" His face contorted into a friendly smirk and he detached the scythe and cast it a few yards to his right.

"Well, aren't you going to tell me who _you_ are?" He asked. His tone seemed upbeat, and he seemed to look as if he were in his early twenties. His voice was light, a little less boyish than Shinji's though. Shinji thought he could detect a very small hint of an English or European sounding accent.

"Oh, uhm… I'm—"

"Don't worry I was only kidding, Shinji Ikari. I know who you are, and I knew you're friend too."

"But how do you… My friend? Who? And how do you know who I am?" Shinji probed, almost demanding an answer.

"You're friend Rei Ayanami of course. The cute quiet one with the blue hair and red eyes?" He answered. "She told me about you, and said that it would be wise of me to summon you here sometime… But it seems you came all your own." He cocked a brow at Shinji's puzzled look. "You do know who I'm talking about of course? If all went right, she should have returned from the dead directly in your presence…"

"Oh, yes… I know who you're talking about… We're quite good friends." Shinji replied meekly.

"Just good friends huh? Is that all?" Edgar questioned, probing further and further with a pushing smirk.

"Well… We're sort of… Not just—I don't know…" Shinji's expression contorted into that of inquisition. "Wait, what business is it of yours anyway? I don't even know you!"

"Whoa whoa, calm down there tiger. I saw what you did to that kid a few days ago. Came up here for a visit after going into a coma and almost dying, don't want that happening to me." He said rather sarcastically. "But God! That kid was a real douchebag! He deserved that ass kicking if I do say so myself."

'Fucker…' Shinji thought upon the subject the said student. "Well listen. Enough of the small talk. Who are you, and where the hell am I?" Shinji asked acrimoniously.

"Well… It seems the gentle boys taking charge now." Edgar's sarcastic and lighthearted demeanor was getting on Shinji's nerves, and he could tell. "Well fine, ruin all the fun I guess. Truth is kid."

"Don't call me kid."

"Fine. The truth is _Shinji_, that this is purgatory, limbo, or whatever else you want to call it. That place between Heaven and Hell that is neutral of chaos either negative or positive. I am Edgar as I told you before, and I was simply asked by Rei to wait for you here." Shinji's eyes took on a look of worry and grief.

"So I'm dead?"

"No Shinji, no my friend. In the real world you are simply suspended in a comatose state for the time being. You aren't dead, but nonetheless you are stuck here with me for a little while. Now, I'm going to get right down to business and show you just _why _you are here. You defeated that stone monstrosity of an Angel before you came here right?" Edgar inquired. He seemed very interested in these matters. Shinji's hand fidgeted slightly.

"Uh, yeah." Accustomed to some very strange things in his life, Shinji accepted his position and answered Edgar as if he were any other person in his life.

"Please, let's sit down! I have forgot my manners if I do say so myself."

"But what about the snow? We'll get wet, and the grass…"

"Nothing to worry about friend! I'll take care of it in a second. Edgar reached out to his left. From the grass into which it was thrown his scythe seemed to somehow levitate or fly back into his hand. It struck a memory in Shinji's mind, one about the way these men in cloaks would summon strange glowing swords in a movie he had seen awhile back. 'Huh… What was the name of that? Star Wars or something?' His thoughts began to wander. They were broken when he saw what Edgar was doing. He seemed to be walking around in a circle, as if looking for something in the grass. Then without warning, he let out a savage yell and spun really fast on his heel in a circle. With his arms fully extended, the scythe ripped into the red grass, cutting it away from the ground. At the same time, he became enveloped in a sort of smoke and the crimson vegetation started to burn down to the ground, as if set fire by Edgars scythe. Slowly the smoke settled, and the Snow seemed to have melted away completely. What was left in a large circle around Edgar was a clearing, and on the ground instead of dirt or snow, there was much shorter grass, one that somebody would find on their lawn. The tiny blades were charred at the end, and it was evident what they once were.

"Do, come and sit down." Shinji obeyed, stepping into the small circle and sitting down. The grass now towered a few inches over his head, and the two were enclosed in the small space. "I'm going to be frank about this, Shinji my friend. Earth is about to be hit with a war more intense than all of your own civil and continental wars combined. We've predicted that—"

"Who's predicted?" Shinji asked him, wanting to know just who he was talking about. "Rei kept talking about all of these things she came to know while she was dead, all of these _they's _and _he's_, but I don't know who any of these people are.

"In good time I'll tell you my friend, but for now may I stick to the story?" Edgar retorted, leaning back on his elbow casually. Shinji leaned back as well, deciding to relax some. After all, the place was calm, and very soothing. "Anyways, we've predicted that they'll start with a fleet of smaller ships, mostly transports to bring upon the surface of your planet hundreds upon thousands of angels."

"Thousands?" Shinji exploded, obviously flabbergasted by this statement of thousands of angels. "One angel is enough! Two is madness, and Three is just pure chaos! What the hell are we going to do against Thousands of angels? Three Eva's can't possibly stand up to that many, and the regular military task force won't pose any kind of resistance!"

"Calm down Shinji, it's not as bad as you think." It had been maybe fifteen minutes, and Shinji and Edgar were already arguing over the matter as if they had known each other for years. In a place so expansive one would figure there was no way of avoiding another person if they truly wanted to talk to them, for they could be seen even from miles away, wading through the sea of red grass. "Listen here. These angels aren't anywhere near as bad as you'll think they are. You know the generic angels you see in Christmas cards and hear about in bibles and shit? Humanoid figures with wings? Well that's what a good portion of them will be, but they'll be covered completely in full body armor and they'll be carrying swords, brimstone guns and shit like that. They aren't the saviors they're made out to be." Edgar stopped for a second, casting his gaze off into the bullet gray clouds. "You see Shinji, this is a full scale invasion on heavens part. You know what instrumentality is?"

"Yes. I know very well what it is." Shinji's eyes grew with discontent. The subject of instrumentality always brought up unpleasant thoughts.

"Well Shinji… As you've seen, the angels ultimate goal has been instrumentality, ever since day one. In order to completely describe the point of such a goal… There's something I'll have to show you…" Standing up, Edgar picked up his scythe and tapped it on the ground twice, muttering something Shinji couldn't quite make out. "Don't fret to much Shinji. All of this is just an illusion."

"What? An illusion? Hey! How are you doing all this? I want some godamned answers!"

"Sssh. Shinji, you're about to get all of the answers that you need." The ground suddenly crumbled from beneath their feet, and Shinji found himself in the sky, hundreds upon hundreds of feet above the ground.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaah!" Instinctively he began to wave his arms and cringe, but when he realized that he wasn't falling and that it was all an illusion he stopped, standing there awkwardly. Edgar eyed him curiously.

"Somebody once told me of a theory that consisted of what people's first instincts were when high up off the ground. He said that no matter what, even if they're falling or not when they think they're going to fall, they begin to flail around like blundering idiots. This he said applied to most situations. When one is on fire, being swarmed by bee's, being shot at, and a number of other potentially frightening situations because the mind reverts to that of the pure terror complex of a five year old. I thought it a rather useless analogy, but I guess it was true in the long run." Edgar said with a light chuckle.

"You shut up." Shinji replied sheepishly, staring daggers at him. "Whoa! What is this place?" Shinji went wide-eyed when he witnessed the city below them. It was a monstrous metropolis, spreading for hundreds of miles in every direction.

"That Shinji, is Cinstra City. It is home to Twenty-Five percent of the population of Malakai."

"Malakai?"

"Yes, Malakai, before it was known to the second generation of humans as earth."

"Edgar, what are you talking about? Second Generation of Humans?" Shinji paused when Edgar stared directly into his eyes with a look of seriousness.

"I'm sorry to say this Shinji… But probably half of the things you've been told about heaven and hell, and the age of earth in your lifetime have been lies. How old do you think Earth is?"

"Uhm… About Five Billion years? That's what they say."

"Wrong, Shinji Ikari. What is now known to you as Earth is actually about Fifteen billion year old. Before it lived another civilization, another race of humans. We named the planet Malakai, and flourished for twice as long as the human race that now populates the planet… But alas, on a fateful day, beings that called themselves angels descended upon our fair planet. The angels numbered in the hundreds of thousands, many descending on ornately covered dragons with lances that could spit lightning. This day began what was known by the angels as the First Apocalypse, I'm guessing your kind would call it zero impact. Battle waged on for years upon years between the people of Malakai and these strange creatures called angels. With booming populations, Malakai could stand up to the vast amount following this power hungry deity known to them as God. Science combined with magic proved them a very deadly and formidable enemy. Two gigantic ships known as Adam and Eve were the biggest problems. Basically they were space worthy genetic engineering plants, that produced mass numbers of angels and other beings born into lives of patriotism and endless work for the powerful union known as Heaven, referred to as the _promised land_ by angels. Finally, the war came to an end and every Malakaiin on the planet was wiped out by the first apocalypse. With a series of doomsday classed plasma bombs cleverly placed four hundred miles under the planets crust in various places, the explosions emitted substances similar to the solar systems sun, and melted Ninety-five percent of the planets surface into a thick molten magma state. Do you get all of this so far?" Edgar asked him, making sure that all he had just said didn't completely fly over Shinji's head.

"Yeah, I guess so… It's just… Hard to think about. But, how do I know you're telling me the truth?"

"What would be the point in lying to you about it? I'm actually warning you against the coming of more angels and the soon to be war that will break out between Earth, and Heaven once again." A look of sorrow filled Edgar's eyes, and he cast his glance downward. Below them the city bustled. "Even though, it may be too late for some of us." Something bright caught Shinji's eye. Casting his gaze upward he saw hundreds of dots filling the skies above.

"What is that?" He asked, shielding his eyes against the sun.

"Them…" Edgar did not so much as glance up from the city below. Shinji's eyes widened and he flinched when one of the dots flew by. In an instant it had grown from a dot in the sky, to a strange figure on the back of a dragon barreling down on them from above. Proving the proposition of an illusion, one of the dragon's wings passed through his shoulder as if he were a ghost.

"Shit!" he winced. Many more passed by, diving towards the ground in blurs. A whooshing sound greeted his ears every time one passed. Large explosions and percussion's drew his attention to the city below. The dragonback riders would disappear into the city below.

"Let's bring this a little closer… So you can see just how merciless the angels really are." With a wave of Edgar's finger the two seemed to zoom towards the ground. They descended into the City Square, landing in the middle of a criss-crossing intersection. Gravity now seemed to take effect, and Shinji planted his feet firmly on the ground. An ominous screeching sound screamed out behind Shinji. Turning on his heel, the sight was daunting. A large four-wheeled vehicle similar to a bus barreled down on him. The windows were shattered with smoke and fire pouring out of all sides. The metal all around it was charred and blacked. A roasted corpse sat there in the driver's seat fused to the steering wheel. It eyeless sockets stared deep into Shinji's, and he filled with terror. His lip quivered and he cringed, waiting to be smashed into street pizza by the flaming abomination. He was never hit, and all seemed to slow down. In his terror everything was sluggish. Once again like a ghost, he passed through the front of the bus. His body was invisible below his waist, as all he could see was the isle inside of the bus. Seats lined up one after the other on either side. All were filled what were once people. The seats on which they sat were metal. It was blackened, as were the bodies that lined the seats. Twisted and blasphemous crimes of flesh they were, gnarled and wretched creatures. They were completely black, burnt or charcoaled chunks of muscle and skin hanging from the bones. Their mouths hung open, their screams of their final moments forever immortalized by the way their jaws were locked in place in such a horrid fashion. Their mouths were opened so wide, likely the passageway that their souls took on the way out. Most were fused to the backs of the seats. Being composed of metal, they likely heated up so intensely that the victims were melted to them. The back of the bus came up and flew through Shinji. Turning around he watched as the rolling and roasting slaughterhouse collided with a storefront and exploded.

"Jesus!" He uttered in a tone of utmost terror. He crumbled to his knees, watching as the storefront went up in flames. His terror never left him, and all seemed to carry itself out in slow motion. The city would have been beautiful from where he was standing. Its towers composed of a bluish metal reigned over all, reaching for the clouds. The roads on which an assortment of wheeled, but intensely modern looking vehicles spanned not only on the ground of the city, but between towers and in and out of large terminals, escalating and dropping dramatically in places. The web of roadways above and below reminded Shinji of one of those toy car tracks that could sometimes fill an entire room, webbing off of beds and dressers and under beds. This thought crumbled quickly as entire roadways fell from above, crashing violently down on smaller buildings and the ground level roadways. The sections landed on hundreds of fleeing people at a time, trapping them for death. He watched in dread as a fleeing woman and her child were confronted by one of the angelic figures. He was a hulking figure, completely covered in metallic armor. He wore a mask, covering his entire face except for two holes that were cut out so he could see. Bloodied wings spanned out on either side, what used to be white were now a filthy crimson. Effortlessly he impaled the woman on his spear and flung her over his shoulder. She was dead before she hit the ground, the child couldn't be spoken for. Edgar turned his head to Shinji, impressing upon him a very grim look. Tears filled Shinji's eyes, they were completely red. His shoulders were heaving, and his entire body was shaking.

"There are so many of them. They're so innocent! Why the fuck is this happening?" The beautiful metropolis began to crumble around the two within minutes.

"This isn't happening Shinji, it already has. And if your people aren't prepared, this will happen to your cities, and to your loved ones. Do you now see the significance of what I'm showing you?" Shinji was still shaking, tears still staining his cheeks.

"How can you watch this, without even shedding a single tear? These were your people! Some of these might have been your loved ones!" Shinji screamed in an outburst.

"Shinji my friend… As sad as it is… I have lived through this moment far to many times to shed a tear so easily… Most of my life for all of it's worthlessness has made this so. As with the others hidden in the depths of Hell… You see Shinji… After all of this, the spirits of all my people and all Malakaiins became so embittered with rage that they broke the bounds of the balance of harmony and chaos. Now there is no perfect balance. Within a reality our bitterness and vengeful souls created themselves, what you know as Hell was fabricated. What all of the clergy have been telling you… That Vengeance is sin. That hatred is sin, pride and many other emotions are… Those sins are the product of our bitterness." Edgar cleared his throat, and resumed what he was saying. "You see, God created Lilith to spawn human life… But in the midst of all the confusion, a man by the Name of Twitch Nightingale managed to separate his own bitterness and hatred from his mind by means of learning how to manipulate the strength of what _you _would call an AT field, known to us as a chaos barrier, and let it be consumed by Lilith before her creation was completed. Unknowing of this sabotage, the angels finished Lilith and let her spawn the tools with which human life would evolve. Once they had finally come to knowledge of this predatorial instinct, Hell had amassed its numbers and engaged Heaven in full out war deep within the cosmos. Our biggest goal was to keep God from destroying all life on the planet once again, and we did. Thus, humans are the walking embodiment of sin and of the people that God killed billions of years ago, but in truth sin is the very most pure form of justice. Without our original bitterness humans would not have morals, nor would they have any way of knowing right from wrong… That natural instinct that you feel Shinji, when you think you must do something right? Guilt? They are all products of our bitterness towards injustice. Without these things, the human race would be a mass of zombified people without opinion or feeling. Heaven is the evil that you need to fear, not Hell, for we are here to help…" Edgar fished around in his pockets, pulling a sort of amulet on a chain from each.

"Shinji Ikari. It is time for you to leave here, but before your departure I must ask you to make a choice. Will it be Heaven, and all that you have been told to believe as a child, or Hell, and the newfound truth." From two separate chains in either hand, religious symbols hung. One was a very ornate pentagram, decorated with symbols of a language he did not know. In the other hung a simple cross. The scenery of chaos disintegrated around them and the screams faded away. Once again Shinji and Edgar were standing on the grassy plane. Shinji knew not exactly what compelled him to do it, but it felt like that invisible hand on his shoulder was pushing him once again. It was pushing him towards the pentagram. His eyes still puffy and red, he clasped the pentagram amulet.

"Geaaaah!" It burned in his hand, but he was unable to let go. "Jesus Christ! Fuck!" He squirmed and convulsed, trying to wrench his hand away from the amulet. Suddenly the burning ceased and Shinji fell crashing to the ground. The amulet had fallen out of Edgar's hand, landing on Shinji's chest. Every vein in his body felt as if it were on fire. The pain was far too much, and Shinji was on the verge of passing out. The last thing he saw was a pentagram shape burnt into his right palm as he lay there in the grass. Edgar looked down on him with a smile.

"A wise choice my friend, I'll see you soon." Shinji mumbled something incoherent, but soon blacked out. In the blink of an eye Shinji faded from Edgar's vision, and only his outline remained in the grass. "That kid's got heart… But he's gonna need all of the fucking help he can get." In another blink of an eye, Edgar was gone too, and all that accompanied the grassy plane was a slow and steady howling of wind.

"_Shinji…Shinji!… SHINJI!" _

"Wha?" Shinji bolted upright. A breathing tube fell out of his nose, and he coughed violently. White sheets across his lap, a mattress as stiff as a corpse and a smell of ammonia. He was in a hospital, infirmary, or something like that.

"Shinji!" Everything looked dreary under the fluorescent lights, somehow so clean that it was disgusting. In a state of stupor, he turned to face the voice. He found Misato's perky face was only inches from his.

"Ah!" Shinji yelped in surprise, almost tumbling off of his bed. An army of daggers jolted into his legs and he doubled over in pain. "Geaah! Jesus Christ!" He yelled, grabbing his legs. They were in heavy bandages and casts.

"Easy Shinji! Easy…" Her always comforting hand clamped down on his shoulder.

'Jeez, what is it with everybody and touching my shoulder?' He thought, a completely irrelevant one at that.

"Asuka! Rei! He's awake!" Misato yelled. Shinji put a hand up to one of his ears. Feeling as if he had awaken from a bad hangover, her voice pounded in his head, beating against his thoughts like a sledgehammer. Shinji shook his head back and forth a few times in an attempt to clear it a little. In that instant, two girls, one with blue hair and another with red came running into the room. Each enveloped him in a bone crushing hug at the same time. Shinji swore that he could feel his ribs buckling under the pressure, but he decided to be nice and keep his mouth shut for once.

"Uh, hey guys… It's been awhile since I've seen you two." Shinji thanked the both of them, greeting them back.

"Uh… How long have I been asleep?" Shinji asked the three, puzzled.

"Comatose is more like it you lazy ass." That one had to have come from Asuka. He directed his attention to her.

"Okay, fine. How long have I been _comatose_ then?" He sassed her back.

"Hey! Don't you take that tone with me!"

"What are you gonna do? Hit a crippled kid?"

"Maybe!"

"Hush up you two!" Misato shouted. Shinji doubled over in pain when she did this, clasping his hands over his ears. His ears were still mighty sensitive. "He's been awake two minutes and you two are already fighting!"

"What more would you expect?" Asuka retorted.

"Nothing more really! But nonetheless, shut up Asuka." Misato snapped back. In a fashion that was classic of Asuka she made a loud "Hmph!" and crossed her arms. Misato directed her attention back to Shinji. "Well Shinji… I'd say you've been asleep for about two months now."

"Two months?" Shinji freaked, remembering all that he had just dreamed. "What about the angels?" He blurted out.

"Shinji what are you talking about? There haven't been any attacks since you took down that giant walking rock of an angel." Misato answered with a cocked brow.

"Oh…" Shinji looked down, feeling sort of sheepish. His eyes went wide when he saw a pentagram shaped design on the palm of his right hand. 'Shit!' He thought, jamming it under one of the blankets. He looked over to Rei. Under the fluorescent lights she glowed beautifully, but in her eyes was a look of worry, and mystery. He wanted to ask her what it was, but had a feeling that it should wait until he could get some time alone with her. "Well… How badly was I hurt?" He asked Misato.

"Well Shinji… You broke several bones in your legs first off… But with medical help we were able to speed up the process, and they should be removing the casts within the next few days incidentally. You broke some ribs, and got scraped up _very _very badly. They actually had to give you a few skin grafts and—" As Misato spoke, he noticed something odd. His vision seemed somewhat screwy, and for some reason he thought back to the incident of the car crash, and how he couldn't see out of his right eye at one point. He closed his left eye, leaving the other open. Nothing, just complete blackness as Misato spoke on and on.

"I'm blind." He interrupted her.

"What?"

"I'm blind, in the right eye. I can't see out of it." His voice lost its bounce and dived into a flat and emotionless tone.

"Shinji… Y-yes… You are… After the crash a piece of glass ended up lodged in your eye… They tried to operate on it and fix it like we did with Rei when debris pierced her eye, but it didn't work." Misato cast her eyes downward, face hidden by some of her hair that had gone astray. Her shoulders started to heave up and down, and Shinji heard something wet patter against the floor. He saw tears falling, and instantly felt bad for the way he said it.

"S-shinji… It's all my fault that you're like this… That you were comatose for two months… All my fault…" Misato upturned her face with pouty lips and red eyes, tears streaming down the side of her cheeks. "I'm… So sorry!" She latched onto Shinji, hugging him tightly.

"Misato… It's not your fault." Shinji noticed as Asuka beckoned Rei and herself out of the room, giving Shinji and Misato some space.

"Yes it is…" With her head cradled into the side of his neck, he felt her tears soak into his skin. Gently he hugged her back.

"Misato… These things happen…"

"No they don't! Not if I hadn't have been driving with a headwound like that! I completely forgot about it… I'm so stupid sometimes…"

"Don't say that Misato. This coming from the renowned Strategic Battle Major, Misato Katsuragi? Don't say that… I don't blame any of this on you, and you shouldn't either." Shinji said, trying his best to comfort her. "We all do things we regret sometimes… But they aren't worth dwelling on, not if you don't want to rob from the present. There's nothing we can do now, but get along the best we can." Misato raised her head from his shoulder and looked him in the eyes. Though still puffy and red with tears, the smile on her lips and the sparkle in her eyes proved that she was happy once again.

"I'm just so glad you're alive… So glad you woke up…" All was silent for a few minutes. Rei and Asuka came back in after obviously making a journey down the hall to a vending machine.

"Catch." Asuka said, throwing a soda to Shinji. It was about eight at night when he woke up, so the three spent most of the night with Shinji, filling him in on what had been going on recently, and some of the things that he had missed. Misato sat in a rolling office chair, Rei sat by his side on the bed, and Asuka had pulled up a fold up chair herself.

"So Touji finally got the nerve to ask her out huh?" Shinji asked Asuka, referring to Touji Suzuhara and Hikari Horaki.

"Yeah, they've been going out for a week now and the two of them are already fighting, It's pretty funny actually." She said, laughing lightly.

"So Rei, how've you been adjusting?" Rei had taken a more relaxed position now, half sitting and half laying on the bed next to him with her body propped on her elbow. He gave her a warm genuine smile.

"Well… I have been good lately. Better it seems, than before… And Asuka and I are getting along better than we did last time, it's quite nice." This was indeed true. Rei and Asuka had been spending quite a bit more time around each other than the last time. Asuka felt bad for the way she had treated her before, and with new life she felt the need to redeem herself. Misato and Asuka had asked her to move in with them, in the meantime waiting for Shinji to come out of his coma. Thus the two of them got to know Rei much better than before, and had grown accustomed to her sometimes clueless and childlike curiosity.

"Well guys… We should probably get going, it's getting kind of late." Misato said. Her and Asuka began to head out, when she turned around to address Rei.

"Are you coming Rei?"

"No…" She said in a soft and innocent voice. "I'd like to stay a little longer if that's alright."

"Of course Rei… Well, see you later just incase you decide to stay here tonight."

"Okay Misato… By by." The two left through the door, turning into the hallways and exiting the building. It was a fairly small room in which Shinji was located, complete with a bathroom, bed and nightstand. When the door finally closed, Rei laid down on the bed fully, placing her head on Shinji's chest. Her face was directed towards his, and she gazed deep into his eyes.

"I missed you Shinji…" She whispered. He grew nervous for a second, but this soon passed. At first when Shinji met Rei he would feel awkward, especially after the whole incident where the simple act of giving her a new clearance card had ended up with him awkwardly placed on top of her naked body. After a while of getting to know her as an intimate friend, her presence grew comforting, and had remained since.

"I missed you too Rei…" He whispered back. Rei was much different. It wasn't quite in a bad way; for she held the same gentleness and common kindness as before… But put simply, she was more social. Rei had never called Misato by only her first name before. It had always been _Major Katsuragi _or _Miss Misato. _The way she blended with her surrounding environment now, her casual tone and body language. Only in two months, it seemed that she had learnt allot. This Shinji could see just from studying her. He went to ask her something, but she was asleep already. Trying best not to disturb her, Shinji reached over his head and flipped the lightswitch on the wall, darkening the room.

"_Who are you? What are you? What is your purpose?"_

"I do not know…" Rei's dreams were a series of questions and answers. She felt suspended in a universe within herself.

"_Then what is this betrayal you have been committing?"_

"What betrayal? I have wronged no one…" Images of Unit-00 came into mind, drifting in and out of darkness. Images of Commander Ikari, and of previous battles.

"_This betrayal that is the action of wavering from your soul duty…Of concentrating on only piloting an Eva and nothing more… What is this reason?" _Within infinite darkness Rei felt gravity and a firm ground. She sat there, glowing as if the sun were shining when all else was black. Knee's hugged to her chest, she rocked back and forth slowly.

"I know why you call out to me… You are insecurity, that which holds me back and haunts my past… I have committed no betrayal… That lifeless duty left me when my life left for the first time as well. With new life, I have brought new duties that supercede those before them…" She spoke of all that she knew.

"_Emotions… A new thing to you…Not something, you had many of before…They are very powerful things, and you do not know how to control nor use them…They will destroy you…" _

"This is nonsense. Emotions have the potential to destroy me, but Edgar taught me that pride is the prevailing factor. Though pride can be crushed, like any emotion it can be felt in full again… I may not know much of these feelings… But they are things one cannot live a bearable life without. I have seen what life can be like for oneself that is not so restricted by distance from emotion… Smaller things take a significance that could have never before been seen through my eyes, _our _eyes. Edgar showed me things that I needed to know not only to wage war against God, but to attain victory in the battle within my own mind."

"_It is not your place to say these things, for they are not perfection. You must be perfection, you must be everything and nothing to attain utmost efficiency."_

"There is no strength in efficiency, only steadfast dependability… And if such efficiency is soon to give out and repair looks impossible… Am I only to be looked at as a statistic? Character might not be as efficient, but is definitely the strongest. Words influence, and trust comforts. With trust comes a reason for strength and dependability, and if one is shot down, they have the chance to rise up again. Go away my ghosts, I shall be hating you soon, and the dead will too for your words are hateful. Leave me my foolish plan, I am not afraid of the danger. If it means death, whether it be that of life, soul or mind it will not be the worst of deaths — death without honor."

"_Go then, if you feel that you must. You are unwise, but a loyal friend indeed to those who love you."_

Exit the two mentalities existent as one person, to undisturbed sleep.

"Come on you wimp! Just five more steps!" Asuka shouted at Shinji. The casts had been cut off of Shinji's legs, and he clung to support rails on either side of him for dear life. The chemical treatment, an experimental drug that they injected into his legs to speed up the healing process of his bones had significantly decreased the muscle mass in his legs and left them somewhat wobbly. After being in bed asleep for two months, living off of the minimal requirements of nutrients and water to sustain life had weakened the rest of his body as well. He was to undergo physical therapy until he returned to a healthy body weight and strength. Knowing full well that Asuka would push him until his heart gave out if necessary, Misato had put the bossy redhead in charge of coaching him through it.

'Damn you Misato!' Shinji thought, struggling through the last five steps. He plopped lazily into the wheelchair he was given. He had been moved to NERV HQ for the time being, staying in one of the temporary rooms. Every morning Asuka woke him up at seven in the morning, made him wheel himself down to the infirmary wing, and put him through numerous strenuous exercises in the gym and weight room. Most of the time she was shouting, but every now and again she would congratulate him on a job well done, or an increase in efficiency. The days grew shorter and shorter and the exercises grew easier, and soon enough Shinji was on crutches rather than in a wheelchair. Eventually he could walk on his own without any help whatsoever. Rei, Misato, Ritsuko and the others would often times come to visit him, and he was grateful for the company. All he had really been doing lately consisted of studying. Being two months behind, his homeroom teacher had advised him to study before his return so that he wouldn't become lost in all of the work. Asuka provided a list of all the things they had been studying in school, and he was due back in another week or so.

"Ugh… This is so… BORING!" He tossed a philosophy book across the room. It thudded against the wall, falling to the floor. Shinji huffed and placed his head on the small desk in his room. It had been awhile since this place had been used, and a thin film of dust blanketed the desktop. Boredly he swirled his finger about on the surface, leaving trails in the dust. He decided that he was done studying for the rest of the week, feeling that he'd caught up on all that he needed to know. If now, he'd simply wing it until he understood the classroom material. It seemed that Rei wasn't back in school either it seemed. She attended school at him in Misato's apartment, using a computer based Independent Study program. She decided that she'd return once it was well known that she was back, so she wouldn't get quite as many weird looks from people in the halls, and that the other two of her comrades were back in school to. Out of the three Asuka was the only one attending currently, so she would return when Shinji did. A knock sounded at his door, and Shinji rose to answer. It was Ritsuko.

"Hey Shinji, I just thought I'd tell you something. Another Eva Unit's been built for Rei, and she'll start beginning Synch tests within fifteen minutes or so. Would you care to join us on the bridge and see how things go?" Shinji's brow furrowed, signaling that he was thinking about it.

"Sure, I guess so Dr. Akagi." He stated with a smile. Lately he had actually attained an interest in the Eva's, completely indifferent to the age old hatred that he used to have for them. With the winds of knowledge and understanding his judgement had changed and the whole matter surrounding the Eva's in general did too. The only thing bothering him, was the dream that occurred to him during his coma. He thought it just a dream, but the pentagram shape burnt into his hand stated otherwise. It was faint as of now, hardly noticeable at a glance so he'd done a good job of hiding it.

"Well Shinji, we best get going then." She beckoned him outside.

"Oh okay, just hold on a second please." He stepped back into the room and turned off all the lights, and then stepped out again, closing the door behind him. "Okay, ready."

On the escalator heading down, Ritsuko and Shinji conversed about multiple things. She told him of new weapons developments and things of the sort, and he explained the experience of defeating the angel that had attacked about two and a half months back. Finally she began to explain the new abilities of the Eva they had just constructed. A new attachment capable of aerial maneuverability was now available for the new Unit-05, and would soon be available for the remaining Unit's too Ritsuko explained.

"Built attached to a finished model of the S2 engine, a monstrous fuel cell inside of the Eva powered by the engine uses electrolysis to separate Hydrogen and Oxygen from water. The highly combustible gas being hydrogen is then released into two separate chambers. Are you following so far?"

"Yes" Shinji replied with a nod.

"The gasses are then cooled down to a liquid state. A valve opens in each chamber. The hydrogen is shot out of nozzles within the jet engine in a fine spray. Super hot heating coils within the engine cause the liquid hydrogen to warm up with the help of the outside temperature, thus turning it into a gas. Then, the hydrogen mixed with the oxygen collected earlier ignites and is forced through the electrically powered turbine fan, which is also powered by the S2 engine. The hydrogen rich mixture provides the needed thrust for liftoff after ignition. If tuned right, it can be twice as effective as jet fuel."

"Wow Dr. Akagi. Sounds like you guys have put allot of work into this." Shinji replied with a smirk.

"Indeed we have. It should provide numerous new advantages for the Eva's." Ritsuko said. "Oh look, we're here." They came to the end of the towering escalator and stepped off. They headed through a few corridors and security doors before reaching the Observation Bridge. There they met up with Misato Katsuragi, Shigeru Aoba, and commander Ikari, otherwise known as Gendo, Shinji's father.

"Heya Shinji!" Misato waved at Shinji. Aoba greeted Shinji, as well as Gendo. Being both Shinji's father and his superior in command put Gendo in an odd position, and they had a very rough history nonetheless so he usually stayed as professional as possible.

"Good day Shinji." His voice was emotionless and flat, a quality he had attained when greeting most people nowadays. Shinji shifted his gaze towards the ground.

"Hello father…" All was silent for a second or two, until Commander Ikari spoke once again.

"Well, shall we begin the tests then?" Shinji looked beyond the glass and saw Unit-05 for the first time.

"Wow…" The design of Unit-05 was almost identical to Unit-01's, but it's color was a light sapphire blue, and the head was different. The Unit had three eyes. They were designed after Unit-00's singular eye, all three the same red color. One larger one was placed in the middle, and two smaller ones to the lower left and right of it. A metal crosspiece that spanned across the mouth with dozens of holes in it looked somewhat similar to a giant gas mask, when in reality it's purpose was to define even the smallest of sounds to sharpen the pilots senses. The exoskeleton's waist section was black, as were the wings and the secondary colors of the Eva.

"After further analysis Shinji, we found that the design of your Eva was best suited for Rei. Before she was hindered by her Unit." Commander Ikari said.

"Huh… Hindered? Why?"

"Hers was the first to be built" Commander Ikari said.

"And as a result it didn't really have a mapping out of what kind of combat it was best used in. Your model on the other hand has shown exceptional performance in hand to hand combat, despite what we thought about Unit-02 being the best suited seeing as it was the finished product of the first two prototypes, and Rei has shown to be exceptionally well in this field, and long range shooting if needed because your make and model is just as easily suited for both situations." Ritsuko cut in.

"Begin the synchronization tests." Commander Ikari ordered. Ritsuko spoke into a radio connected with Unit-05's communications system.

"Are you ready Rei?" Ritsuko asked.

"Yes Dr. Akagi, I am ready." Rei stated.

"Okay, have you gone through the pre-activation checklist?"

"Yes."

"Then please, ease the Eva into full functioning power."

"Confirmed." A reverberating hum vibrated through the walls.

"Power levels at fifty percent! Synch ratio has almost been established with the A10 nerve! Full power will be established in 5…4…3…2…1…"


	8. Back to the basics

"Unit-05 has reached full power. Cranial nerve connections are secure, and we are ready to commence in the testing of Eva Unit-05."

"Alright then." Ritsuko said. She cleared her throat and spoke into the radio microphone. "Rei, we are now beginning your first test operation in Unit-05. We'll begin with basic motor functions and movements, do you understand?"

_"Confirmed Dr. Akagi."_ Rei chirped over the radio.

"Okay then, I want you to extend your right arm directly outward from your right flank and level the top of your hand with your shoulder. You need not wait for my command, do it as ready with the rest of the exercise. If there is a problem I'll alert you."

_"Understood."_ Unit-05's right arm arched up gracefully and straightened out.

"Okay Rei, that's good. Now, bring it out in front of you." The Eva's arm swung forward, pointing at them beyond the glass.

"Now, curl your hand into a fist, starting with your index finger and closing each one individually." Things proceeded like this for the next thirty minutes or so, stepping forward, backwards, side to side, more arm flexes. The procedure became somewhat repetitive and boring to Shinji after a while.

"Not exactly the most exciting thing I've ever seen an Eva do…" Shinji muttered. Without turning away from the glass Commander Ikari commented back on this.

"Maybe not exciting, but important nonetheless." He turned for a second to glance at Shinji out of the corner of his eye before turning back towards the glass. "Come take a look at this Shinji."

"Uh, yeah?" Shinji ventured up to the transparent partition from the area on the back wall he was leaning against. Gendo's gloved hand pointed at the Eva. "Focus on Unit-05's left hand whenever it moves its arm. See how it tends to lock up at the wrist?" Shinji eyed the Eva's left hand for a short spell, and sure enough it seemed to sometimes get stuck in one position.

"Yeah, I see it..." Shinji said. He looked up to his father, who remained facing the Eva and watching it ever closely the entire time. His brow furrowed.

"Now Shinji, in the case of a small hindrance such as this, the importance is not much… But if something like this had gone unnoticed in a leg joint or something of larger importance, it could mean parish in battle." Shinji sat still for a minute, gazing mindlessly through the glass. He was about to speak, when every klaxon in NERV sounded, calling all emergency response personnel to their respective locations.

"Commander Ikari!" Aoba shouted. "We've got a confirmation on the situation from the control room! They say that they've identified about sixty anomalies in the area, all confirmed with a bloodtype blue!" Shinji's eyes shot wide. Suddenly all things from his dream had re-spawned in his mind as if they were as real as best forgotten memories.

'Shit… Is it happening?' He thought. A shiver ran up his spine. 'But no… In that dream, there were more than sixty…'

"Shinji! Get back to the launch terminal of Central Dogma!" Commander Ikari alerted Shinji. No sooner had the boy turned around that Gendo had disappeared. He shook his head a few times as if to clear it.

"Dr. Akagi! What about Rei?" He asked her, wondering what her situation would be.

"Shinji I don't know if she's going to fight or not! But you have to suited up and in your Eva! Don't worry about anything else right now, all that's important is you getting on that launch pad!" She replied.

"Right!" He dashed out of the room and made the long procession through the corridors of Central Dogma and down the maintenance lift that lead down to the docking bay. He bolted into the locker room where he met up with Asuka. They said nothing but a quick "good luck" to one another before heading out fully suited. Within five more minutes both pilots were in their Eva's and ready to be launched. Shinji's stomach filled with something that felt like a car crash and an orgasm at the same time when the initiated the launch. The feeling crashed to a halt at the time once he breached the surface. To his side Asuka stood as well. He took his firearms and prog. Knife from the assorted fold out brackets at the top of the chute and stepped out into the streets. They were abandoned and empty once again. He couldn't confirm the angel visually right away, so he waited for the coordinates from Central Command.

"Shinji! Asuka! We have the coordinates of the angels for you."

"Right!" The two replied. Shinji brought up a topographical map of the area. Suddenly if filled with sixty small blue dots.

"We haven't been able to completely identify what the angels are like right yet! But we do have an idea as too their size. They are very small, and if you'll notice they're lining the outskirts of the East forest, so it looks like they're hiding for now. Investigate them, and take 'em out!" Misato informed the pilots over the Comm. Link.

"Okay! Pilot Three of Unit-01 moving out!"

"Pilot Two of Unit-02 moving out!" Both units ran out into the open half doubled over their rifles, heading East of the city.

"Shinji! There's a plateau that directly overlooks the clearing just in front of the forest! Let's dig in there and scan out the area first."

"Wait! Asuka! Look at your map. They're moving in groups of four it looks like, scattering about in the forest! It looks like they're going to try and flank us if we get up there!" Suddenly something bit into his shoulder with a hiss. It left a blue residue on his right wing. Blue dots were moving everywhere on his map, and it looked as if they could be fired upon from any direction.

"Screw it Asuka! Break apart from me and we'll try and figure this out on our own."

"Fine." She replied, falling away from Shinji's side and bolting off towards the forest outskirts. Shinji raised his AT field and ducked behind a hillside. Volleys of shots sailed overhead, pinging off of his AT field once or twice. The individual rounds or whatever it was being thrown at them looked like pure white balls of light surrounded by a swirling blue smoke or cloud. They weren't very effective alone, but three to four simultaneous shots would at times affect the integrity of his fields as much as twenty percent.

"Asuka! How are you doing on your side of things?" Shinji shouted over the Comm.

"Same as you! Dug in one position, under heavy fire. What's this crap they're throwing at us?"

"How the hell should I know? I can't even see them!" Shinji shouted back. Extending his arms above his head so that they were the only things peaking over the hill, Unit-01 laid down three strafes of blind fire so as to partially minimize fire for a second. Shinji crept up over the edge for a second, and was shocked by a sight he almost missed. A group of eight was moving out of the forest, the very figures that Shinji had seen tearing down an entire city in his dream.

'Shit!' He thought franticly, ducking back behind the hill as they charged up another shot for him.

"Asuka! I've had a visual of the angels! Take a look!"

"I can't! I'm getting it really heavy over here, and they'll take my head off if I look up!"

"Shit! Okay then. I'll search the optical memory and find a shot of them, be ready to receive the data!" Due to a new upgrade, the Eva's were given the capability of transmitting what they were picking up visually to one another. It was a very helpful tool when it came to identifying an enemy or figuring out which way they were going to move. Shinji manually searched the visual memory from within the last two minutes and found a clear shot.

"Okay Asuka, I'm sending it now! Be prepared to receive the connection. A small red blinking light in the corner of his eye signaled that information was being sent. A few seconds went by before there was a reply.

"…Okay Shinji, I got it. They almost look like humans! It looks like the firing instruments are on their arms, because below the elbow their arms seem to get much bigger and bulkier, and it looks like the shots are coming from their hands. Lay down some distracting fire over here! In the forest just after the second clearing so that I can pop up and get a good shot at them!"

"Will do!" Shinji replied. Releasing the lock next to the trigger of his rifle, the spent magazine crashed to the ground leaving a small crater. It was about the size of a flatbed semi truck. Shinji jammed another magazine into the chamber and cocked his gun. Jumping up from the ground Unit-01 stood completely erect. Now shots seemed to come at him from everywhere, and his AT field integrity percentage would jump around chaotically. His Eva rattled as it took the brunt of continuous shots. Unit-01 took the butt of it's rifle and dug it into it's shoulder. Bringing the sites up to it's face, Unit-01 squeezed the trigger. A steady stream of yellow tracers spat from the barrel of the gun like lightning, filling the surrounding air with a stiff and steady deafening roar. A hail of bullets ripped into the forest directly in front of Asuka's position. The blue shots ceased as leaves, twigs and branches fluttered up from the canopy.

"Hurry up Asuka!" Shinji shouted over the Comm. as his magazine neared closer and closer to emptiness and his AT field fell to a dangerous 15 integrity.

"Right!" He fixed his gaze on the group in the middle of the clearing and they fell under a rain of bullets. Dust swirled up around them, and they went invisible for a second. Shinji and Asuka stood and watched, when another hail of blue shot from the cloud of dust.

"Shit! That didn't kill them?" Shinji screamed.

"Actually it almost did! They have AT fields, but their just barely strong enough to withstand out bullets!"

"Well I've got one thing they probably can't withstand!" Shinji shouted.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"150,000+ Tons! That's what I'm talking about!" Shinji exclaimed excitedly with a hint of mischievousness. "Hold on! Keep your position, I'm going to try something." With that said Unit-01 made a leap of about three hundred feet over the hill and out into the open. He took two bounding steps for stability's sake before making another mighty leap. The Eva rose into the air gracefully with arms extended and knees to its chest. At the peak of its rise Unit-01 fully extended its legs and crashed down upon the earth, using them as springs to absorb the impact. The group of angels for the most part disappeared under Shinji's feet.

"Works like a charm." Shinji muttered over the Comm. Link. It was at that moment that an almost euphoric rage passed over him. He didn't feel embittered, just violent. Things seemed to slow down for a few seconds, and the blue bolts of energy from remaining hidden angels hailed against his AT field. The world seemed to slow down, and things moved in blurs. Once again he was not looking through his own eyes, but that of Unit-01's, those of the eyes of Vengeance. All was sluggish and blurred, but he moved at the same speed as always. It was as if time had slowed down for the team of Eva and pilot, and everything had taken on a color tone of Sepia. One particular bolt caught Shinji's attention as it slammed into his AT field. The sound of Angles attacks against him was a deep ominous thunder in his ears, and it seemed that sound had almost slowed down for him as well. The bolt came from a lone angel standing out in the middle of the field. Just one, that had obviously survived. In a drug like trance, Shinji smiled and half-heartedly laughed. He kicked back his leg, and used the other to land a square kick into the angel. Pinging off of his enormous metal foot, the angel arched gracefully over the hill and into the distance. Shinji did not see where it had landed.

_"Shiiiiiiiiiiiiinjiiiii…" _He heard somebody call. He paid it no attention, and then his AT fields integrity dropped to zero. He turned towards both thickets of the forest, and saw blue shots rising from it's canopy at him slowly. In this sluggish world, where everything seemed to be in slow motion, Shinji moved up his hands. Using these giant metal paws he swatted each aggressive blue ball of energy from the air without effort. They would bounce off of his palms, and simply dissipate. When they would not stop coming, Shinji started to get angry.

"What the hell? She watched as Shinji stood there in plain sight, a sitting target. Volley after volley of attacks came from the angels, some at a rate of four or five at a time. She watched in awe as Shinji simply batted each one away with his hands without even employing his AT field.

_"Asuka! How in the hell is he doing that?"_ It was Misato on the Comm. Link established with Central Command. "Asuka, have you tried getting through to him?"

"Yah! I have! But I don't know what the hell he's doing! All I here are grunts, he won't even resond!"

_"I've got a visual from a surveillance plane about three thousand feet above you, and it looks to me like Shinji's just swatting them away! One of those shots is worth at least 15 AT field integrity! How the hell is he doing it?"_

"How should I know! I'm not in there with him!" She waited for a response, but only heard a cackle over the radio. "Misato? Misato! Shit!" She rubbed her temples, not knowing what to do. "Shinji! I've lost contact with Misato! What about you?" No response, only a cackle. "Shinji? Shinji!" No response.

She attempted to rise, only to meet with a face full of enemy fire.

"Shit!" She screamed. "I can't even get out there! What in the hell is that kid doing!" Something caught her attention. A strange hum began to build up over both channels of her Comm. System. The static grew worse, and a rattling vibration found itself reverberating through her Eva. "Shinji?" She probed over the radio, knowing that he wouldn't answer. "Answer me godamnit!" Nothing. Then the sound of a lightning strike greeted her ears. She peaked her head just over the hill to see Shinji in some kind of defensive position. Shots rang off of his armor, and she watched out of curiosity. Both metal palms were cupped over one another, and the Eva was half doubled over while holding them out behind it. Unit-01 thrust its arms forward and wrenched it's hands apart. Holding them above, a few arcs of white lightning danced over its head between the two palms. The strikes grew in rapid succession, until a wiry arc of white energy flowed over his head.

"What?" she said just as the Eva thrust it's hands forward one more time. The electric white light turned from an arch overhead to a blaze pointed at the forest. As if it were hit by the heat waves of an atomic bomb, every branch on every tree instantly burnt away, incinerated. The tree's were thrown back, hundreds of thick trunked mighty oaks, some that stood one-hundred feet tall were plucked from the ground like hairs and dissolved in the air within seconds. Entire hillsides were blown completely away. The light was blinding to Asuka to the point that she could no longer see. The ground shook with a frantic turbulence that caused her to fall over, Eva face planting into the dirt. When the ground stopped rocking and her eyesight returned, Asuka stood to face a barren sight. A steady cone that expanded until it was two miles in width spread out mapped the destruction. Not a single blue dot was present on her Map, all of the angels had been decimated, along with Two and a half square miles of the forest. There was no tree nor stump, not a single bush to be seen. Even the topsoil was charred to a crisp, leaving the landscape deathly black, the scorched earth completely inhabitable. The ground was completely leveled out, the blast having carved through any incline or hillside in the earth, no matter how big or small.

"What the…" She was completely speechless, in awe of what had just happened. Unit-01 stood there, erect against the leveled and blackened forest. Motionless it stood there, until Asuka heard Shinji's voice signal her over the Comm. Link.

"Come on Asuka… Let's go home…" Shinji's voice was filled with despair, completely flat and void of any positive notion. Unable to utter a word, she followed Shinji back to the base. It was said that Eva's themselves were incapable of showing any sort of emotion despite Unit-01's several outbursts, but Shinji and his Eva seemed to trudge along, as if weighed down by some sort of guilt.

"What the hell is going on!" Ritsuko screamed.

"Dr. Akagi! Unit-01's synch ratio just skyrocketed to 200!"

"What are you talking about? That's not even possible! Run a system error check!"

"We've already checked the system for errors, no diagnosis was made!" Central Command was in a flurry. Ritsuko tried to re-establish a Comm. Link with Shinji's unit.

"Shinji what the hells going on! Are you okay!" There was no answer from Shinji.

"Dr. Akagi! The integrity of Unit-01's AT field has dropped to zero, but AT readouts measured around the general area of the unit are steadily rising! We've measured AT levels on the map in accordance to Unit-01's position and posture, and conclude that it's centering around the Eva's hands!"

'What is going on out there?' Ritsuko thought. As if things weren't bad enough, a tremor coarsed through Central Command.

"Aoba! Identify that tremor ASAP!" Dr. Akagi demanded. After a few minutes of Ritsuko barking orders and demanding answers, Aoba had an answer.

"Dr. Akagi! I've identified the vibration! I don't believe that it's the result of seismic activity, but all of the seismographs within the immediate area are showing the vibration to be coming from the point of Unit-01!" The screen displaying both Eva's visual feeds filled with static until it was unreadable.

"Maya! Switch screen two onto the closest city surveillance camera and see if you can focus it on Unit-01!"

"Right!" Both of the static filled screens switched over to a surveillance camera mounted on a stationary tower just out of the city limits. Unit-01 could be seen about four hundred yards away. It was facing the forest, taking heavy fire.

'Why is he just standing there?' Ritsuko worried.

"Ma'am! Synch rates are still at 200" She bit her lip.

'What in the hell is going on in that plug?' Watching through the camera all wondered what was wrong with Unit-01, and then they saw movement. Unit-01 thrust both of its arms forward. At that moment, the screens feeding a 3rd person visual of Unit-01 filled Central Command with a white light so blinding that everybody in the room had to shield their eyes. Ritsuko squinted, using her hand as a visor to shield from some of the light. A white-hot blaze was being issued forth from Unit-01's outstretched palms, flaring out into a menacing cone. Whatever it engulfed could not be seen, and then as quickly as it had happened it was over. The blaze faded away, and a wasteland was revealed. Charred and black, nothing remained, not a stump, not a carcass. Central Command was completely silent, until a response from Shinji rattled through the surrounding speakers.

"Awaiting confirmation of the destruction of the target." Shinji awaited the order to come back.

"Destruction of target confirmed, you guys can come home now…"

"_This is Pilot Three of Unit-01, reporting back to HQ." _Shinji's voice was void of luster, almost dead.

_"Pilot Two of Unit-02, reporting back to HQ." _Asuka piped in over the radio, sounding at least somewhat happy to be heading home. Misato, who'd been standing by Ritsuko's side, grabbed her by the shoulder.

"I don't know what happened out there either Ritsuko, but the kid doesn't sound all too good. We should at least greet them on the way in." Ritsuko turned to eye Misato.

"I would Misato, but I really need to get out there with a Science Crew and collect some samples so that just _maybe_ we can get some concrete answers, because they might not be straight of their coming from Shinji."

"Can't you have a little more faith in him than that?" Misato fumed.

"Of course I have faith in him… But I can't base something this important on the human factor. I'll be back shortly…" Ritsuko replied with an air of regret.

"Fine…" Misato began her walk back to the docking area. The two friends parted ways. It seemed that every time their backs were turned to one another, it was due to an indifference between the two. As somber as it was, by now it was a common mishap and a way of life.

_"Shinji… How did you do that?"_ The Eva's walked on in silence back to the city across an open plain. The sun setting behind their backs, the orange light glinted off of skyscraper windows and abandoned cars in the streets, shimmering in their eyes. In a classic portrayal of a common image to grace hero's, the two metal humanoid warriors walked on, the sun casting long shadows in front of them valiantly.

"Honestly Asuka… I don't know…" Shinji sighed. They continued on in silence, and it remained so until both were back in the docking bay. The plugs ejected, and the pilots climbed down onto the catwalk. Asuka, more energetic demanded something to eat no sooner than her foot had touched down on the platform. It wasn't that she didn't care, but Asuka at times was blissfully unaware of other people's feelings, body language and expressions.

"See ya later Shinji." She added on the way to the locker room to change out of her plug suit. Shinji on the other hand sauntered off with his shoulders hung low, gaze fixated on every fourth crack in the floor tile as he walked along. Misato appeared in the elevator at the bottom when the doors opened. At a brisk walk she hurried to meet up with Shinji.

"Hey, Shinji… I—"

"Just leave me alone…" He cut Misato off, ignoring her and walking directly past her.

"But I… Hmmm…" She sighed to herself with a closed mouth and somber eyes. She knew Shinji, and that at times like this it was highly unlikely for him to talk to her.

'Those dreams… All those things I was told… True?' He thought to himself. He hadn't even bothered to change out of his plug suit, and now roamed the hallways, looking for the elevator up to the Living Quarters Wing that resided in one of the upper floors of HQ. 'Is this the beginning? Or just a cruel joke? Will hundreds of thousands of those bastards really descend upon earth? Was Edgar a real person, with a real truth? I just don't know… Maybe I am capable of such bloodshed, shedding it as a team with Eva Unit-01… With Vengeance… But do we _have_ to share this cruel fate?' A girls dainty feet in open toed sandals that stood in his way broke his thoughts. The feminine shoes covered the foot in many white strings, intertwining and continuing on, wrapping around the circumference of the calves and halfway up the legs. His uninterested gaze continued up the length of the obstructers snowy white legs, silky thighs disappearing under a white skirt. A pencil thin petite waist adorning a white tanktop, and up to a pair of frail shoulders adorning a black duster. His eyes widened some as he realized that he was gazing into the eyes of Rei Ayanami.

"Oh! Uh, Rei!" He stuttered. Here he was, about to mutter something rude to whomever it was standing in his way in the _middle _of a hallway, to find it was the one person that he could never bring himself to even think a cross word towards.

"Hello Shinji." She said, dainty voice temporarily blowing his troubles away like a soothing winter's breeze. She noticed the way he continued to simply stare her up and down. "Is something wrong Shinji?" She questioned, puzzled at his reaction.

"Oh… It's nothing… It's just that, I haven't ever really seen you wearing anything other than a school uniform. Her eyes grew lightly troubled.

"Do you not like it?" She asked, lacing her fingers together as she placed her hands behind her back. "I would wear my school uniform but Asuka yells at me everytime I wear it out of school. She says that it is too _drab._"

"Oh, no! That's not it… It's just that, well… Actually, it looks very nice on you Rei." In fact he truly thought it did. She had the hood on her black duster up, reminding him of a red hooded fable character from when he was a child. Her usual innocence and sullen eyes only insinuated the cuteness of the character. Below the white tanktop her delicate stomach could be seen partially, timid belly button marking the center of her stomach. The short skirt and sandals extenuated her slender snowy legs, the overall white in her outfit complimenting the tone of her skin.

"Were you on your way to the elevator?" She piped between his thoughts.

"Oh, uh… Yeah." Shinji's previous sorrow for some reason began to flow back into him.

"Perhaps you'd like some company? Commander Ikari has given me the rest of the day off. He said my cooperation was no longer needed, and the rest of the day was mine to spare."

"Sure… That would be nice…" Shinji replied, some of his melancholy breaking away once again. Rei took his arm, and they headed for the Elevator. He entered the number of the floor they wanted, and in a hyperbole gesture he motioned her in like a doorman.

"After you, madam." He painted on a smile, acting light hearted and happy hoping that she wouldn't ask about the battle too much, or why he looked so glum. She flashed a smile, playing along and stepping into the elevator. They both took a handrail, knowing full well that NERV's service elevators were notorious for jerky and bumpy rides at times. Rei looked about, humming silently to herself. This went on a few minutes before she noticed Shinji, who said nothing and stared at the ground. Still fully adorned in his plug suit, in her mind struck the image of an emotionally pained soldier she had seen in a movie once very very long ago. The way he slumped against the wall with his arms crossed and sullen gaze fixed upon the ground, fully uniformed and almost a mirror image of that fictional character from so long ago.

"Shinji, what ails you?" Rei asked, a hint of worry surfacing in her voice. Shinji sighed, and looked up to meet her gaze with his full of pain and woe. He seemed distant, detached and grim. Without much warning he sauntered over to her side of the elevator and embraced her in a hug, squeezing his arms around her waist. He didn't quite tell her what ailed him, but she could certainly feel something of it. This young soldier it seemed, was growing tired of filling his closet with skeletons.

"Dr. Akagi, it's no use. There's nothing left here but scorched earth and death." One of the scientists said that was tasked with helping to find the remains of any angels.

"At any rate… I want you to comb this place thoroughly The chances are _slim_, but there's always the chance that there's something to miss." Multiple scientists in radiation proof biohazard suits had combed the area with Geiger Counters and other instruments. The okay to roam the area freely had been given, signaling that no radioactive material or strong poisons had been found. Ritsuko shuffled about in the ashes, the crisp black ground buckling and crunching under her shoes.

'What in the world happened here? Eva's aren't even designed to do _anything_ like this.' Ritsuko lost in thought wandered from site to site, not finding anything.

"Hey! We found someone or something! Get a medivac team over here!"

'What? Somebody that actually survived this blast!' Ritsuko hurried over to the area that every other scientist was gathering around. She broke through the circle and gasped. There among all of these strange people in white coats, a figure rose from the ashes. Completely unclothed, his body was entirely black with ash and soot. The figure seemed to not be much taller than Shinji, but a few bulging muscles here and there along with a clearly sculpted figure indicated that the creature was well built.

"Check it's blood type." Ritsuko ordered. One of the orderlies jabbed a needle into it's arm and withdrew some blood. The figure grunted when they did this. Then one of the scientists emptied the vile into a clear tube filled with green liquid. A chemical reaction caused the mixture to turn a deep crimson.

"It's blood type isn't blue, I think we've got a human on our hands ma'am."

"Well then hurry up!" She ordered. The male figure coughed violently. "Get this guy into an ERMV!" He was a shady guy. Ritsuko noticed that the figure was currently staring at her. She knew not why she said it, for he most likely couldn't speak, but asked it anyway.

"Excuse me sir? Can you tell me your name?" He simply continued to stare at her. 'Figures, I guess he can't speak just as of yet.' She thought. The orderlies came up and helped to hoist him up onto a stretcher, his partially limp body providing gruff resistance. As they carried him off to the ambulance, which was parked near by, he turned his head and looked into her eyes.

"My name… Is Ed." Was all that she heard before they loaded him into the vehicle.

"Okay! You all continue your operations! Maya will be taking over now. If you have any questions or findings, bring them to her!" Ritsuko watched the ambulance drive off with her newfound friend.

"You can count on me ma'am" Maya said, assuring her that things would be all right.

"I know Maya… I know." Ritsuko said. She climbed into a NERV SUV and ordered the driver to follow the van to the medical station. 'Ed… Huh… Not a very interesting name.' There was no way that Ed could have survived such a blast in her mind, yet he did; and with how black his body was it almost looked to Ritsuko as if he were born from the ashes themselves.


	9. Intermissions, and inquisitions

"_Shinji…" _Rei stuttered. 'This is… Unfamiliar to me…' For a second she stood there awkwardly, before wrapping her arms around Shinji and embracing him in return. The floor indicator clicked on through the fog of euphoric bliss that filled the elevator. Her head rested on his shoulder, blue hair gracing Shinji's cheek in little brushes and wisps. His shoulders heaved up and down, and in a move that was alien to herself, she reached up and brushed a delicate finger along Shinji's cheek. Her fingertip broke through a stream of tears that cascaded down the side of his face.

"Shinji…" She whispered, an aura of discontent growing in her own eyes. She took her head off of his shoulder, and leaned back so that she could see Shinji's face, staring him in the eye.

"Shinji, why are you crying?" Her eyelashes fluttered once or twice, her head tilted to the side in puzzlement. Shinji only looked up to meet her gaze, he said nothing.

'How am I to know what troubles him if he won't tell me? This must be what Miss Misato has mentioned a select few times about Shinji's emotional behaviors.' Rei broke her trance, and placed both hands on his shoulders firmly, but softly. "Shinji, how am I too know why you're crying if you won't tell me?" She probed his eyes for an answer. Finally he attained the willpower to speak in short broken words between sobs.

"Ayanami, it doesn't matter… It never has, it's just a phase." He responded, going silent again.

"Shinji… It does matter."

"Why!" He erupted. "Nobody EVER wants to know, so it doesn't matter!" Shinji quickly adopted a look of guilt, hoping that he hadn't hurt Rei's feelings with his outburst. Rei however absorbed the blow. Her hands remained firm on his shoulders, eyes soft.

"I care… Shinji Ikari…" Shinji's tears halted and he looked up at her once more. Her voice, a gentle symphony he thought it, no matter what she had to say. He heard the sincerity, and it felt as if something had pierced through his heart, through his eyes, through his skull. She embraced him in an affectionate hug once again.

"Shinji… It's okay…" She whispered in his ear. His shoulders began to heave again.

"She's trapped in there… She wants out…" He whispered between sobs.

"What?" she asked, not hearing what Shinji had said.

"Nothing… But, thank you Rei… I'm glad…" He said, smiling. She could tell that his smile was sincere, and though she wanted to know, she didn't want to press the issue and upset him again.

"You're welcome, Shinji…" Rei said softly. A smile,(which was still a rare occurrence) spread across her lips, and she turned a bright red, fixating her eyes on the floor of the elevator. The steady drone of the lift continued on. Rei stood there in silence for a minute or two. Suddenly she felt somebody cease her by the shoulders. She looked up to see Shinji's face not an inch from hers, and a small gasp issued from her lips before they met his. Her eyes went wide as saucers for a second, but they soon closed. She pressed her lips against his. They were soft, warm. She felt the gloved hands of his plug suit sliding up the back of her neck, his fingers weaving into her silky hair.

'Part of me…' A single thought ran through her head. This was something she had never done, nor hardly even thought of! Yet some desirable force within drove her as if she had kissed Shinji a thousand times. His body pressed against hers, and against her back she felt the wall of the elevator. The kiss deepened, growing passionate and heated.

"Shinji…" She whispered during a momentary break in the kiss, before his mouth was upon hers again, hands wrapped tightly around her waist. She felt her mouth widen, suckling his bottom lip, the warmth from the inside of his mouth spreading to hers. Then, the counter came to it's final click, and a ding from the bell indicating that they were at the desired location broke the two apart gasping for air. The metal sliding doors opened, and there they saw Asuka, staring directly into the elevator.

"Uuh, Asuka! Uuum… How'd you get up here before us?" Shinji countered her preemptively with a nervous laugh.

"And what were _you_ two doing in there!" Asuka demanded hostile as ever. Shinji began to stutter, before Rei piped up.

"Well… The two of us talked for a few minutes… And for the rest of the ride up the elevator shaft, I do believe we kissed." She said in a matter of factly tone. Shinji attempted to slap himself in the face and rip it off. Rei's uncanny ability to tell the truth, even at the most in opportune times amazed Shinji.

"Whhaaaaaaat!" Asuka replied. She only stood there for a moment, staring daggers at the both of them before she spoke again.

"You don't **need **to know how I got up here Shinji! It's none of your business! Quit being so damned nosy!" She shouted before running off in a childish fit. Shinji exaggerated a sigh.

"I guess… Perhaps I better go after her…" He said. Rei batted her eyes curiously.

"But Shinji… One of Asuka's outbursts has never bothered you before…" She said, puzzled.

"Yeah… But the time that we went without you was tough… Though it might not have been visible, in ways we were there for each other… I guess, somehow against our wills even, we grew closer… So I have to at least _try_ to figure out why she's upset…" Shinji replied, staring down towards his feet.

"Rei… I'm sorry I did that…" He whispered before turning his back and heading down the hall. She stood there in silence for a second, awkwardly. He trudged on until Rei spoke up.

"Shinji… You do not have to be sorry…" He stopped walking. "I after all, did kiss you back… And… I do believe that I left that elevator happier than I was when I stepped into it…" She answered back. Her face glowed a deep red. The destitute language of his posture changed, and it looked as if a great weight had been taken off of his shoulders.

"Do you… Really mean that Ayanami?"

"Yes… Yes I do…" Her gentle words sailed down the hall and into his ears, ringing through his mind as if it were music. He said nothing, but flashed her a compassionate smile over his shoulder before continuing to walk away. Rei stood there, transfixed on Shinji until he turned the corner into another corridor.

"Don't stray from what we have told you Ikari. That is all that is left to say." SEELE 01 faded from site, along with the other black slabs numbered up to five, ending the conference.

"So… He managed to manipulate his own AT field for the destruction of another entity…" Gendo sat behind his desk, head propped on his gloved hands.

"That's what Akagi's hypothesized." Fuyutsuki added. "She said that they could find no other explanation for how The Third Child was able to initiate such a powerful attack."

"Hmmm… And SEELE want's us to look deeper into this… And provide with them concrete evidence."

"Sir? Did you tell them about the male human we found in the ashes?"

"No, I did not. He is our affair, not theirs. What has Dr. Akagi had to say about this interloper? It's quite curious that he was not found, nor seen on any camera until after Unit-01 hit an integrity spike in it's AT field." Commander Ikari stated.

"She told me that he is unconscious at the moment. The medical examiner stated that the blackness of the skin was only the result of the surrounding ashes, and that a single burn was not found on the body. They also added that he seems to be in exceptional physical health and shape."

"Very interesting…" Gendo shifted in his seat. "Tell Dr. Akagi and the rest of Central Command to map out Unit-01's data records from the precise moment that battle began, to the moment it ended. Maybe we can catch what caused this, before it happens again."

"Right." Fuyutsuki said. He ventured off, destined for the Central Command Center.

"Just what is SEELE up too…" He thought aloud to himself.

Central Command was in chaos as a result of Unit-01's outburst.

"Ma'am! All recorded data for Eva Unit-01 had been mapped out! We're switching over to graphs for the sync data on visual!"

"Okay, put them up." Ritsuko watched with curiosity. The first window was opened, to show a graph of the Sync data between the pilot and the Eva. Ritsuko's coffee mug smashed into the ground, accompanied by several gasps.

"Ma'am! Do you see it? It says that Sync rates dropped to negative 400 just before Unit-01 incinerated the forest!"

"Yes Maya… I see it…" Ritsuko stood there, rubbing her temples.

'Was it the pilot absorbing Eva this time?' Ritsuko thought. 'Is it even possible?' Dr. Akagi bent over and started picking up the mug shards.

"I see many headaches ahead…" She stated to herself dryly with a huff.


End file.
